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What could an unstably chosen piece of dialogue from Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita (1955) – “I need you…to imagine us, for we don’t really exist if you don’t” – have in connection with the art historical trope of portraiture?For one, if we were to strip this rhetoric of its context, we are still engaged in and with voices – a community of “I”, “you” and “us” whose existence is beholden to a recognition and reflection of one’s self in each other. Regardless of the possibilities of the being(s) imagined, this expectant appeal alerts us to the ongoing performance of existence, raising self-consciousness as the channel in which experience and relationship transpire through our interactions. In other words, our perceptions inform our imagination as much as the imagination informs our perceptions, setting the stage for the ultimate act of empathy: being able to read ourselves in other people and things, the precursor to all great art.This harmonious tussle between intimacy and contradiction similarly rests at the heart of portraiture, which dates back to ancient civilizations as the only means to distinctly record someone’s appearance, and in many ways their existence, before the invention of photography. Today, the art of portraiture has become ubiquitous with developments in technology, evolving the practice into a stream-of-consciousness image-making that rapidly influences the intensity and frequency of our perceptions. We ask: how does a traditional portrait confront a digital image, and what segments of the imagination does portraiture occupy in contemporary practice?The portrait’s ongoing relationship with the painter as sitter or subject – meaning where appearances are either observed or perceived – has also long stimulated debates around our cultural understanding of psycho-social cues not only of the rendering but of the artist as well. We continue to look at portraits of others with a curiosity that ushers in a crucial human paradox, that how we look is not always how we feel, and yet on looking again we are offered a sublime feeling of calm that comes with a composed deportment, however temporary its conclusion.
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Atul Dodiya (B. 1959)
Born in 1959 in Mumbai, Atul Dodiya trained at the Sir J.J. School of Art, 1982, and École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1991–92, and is widely considered one of India’s most significant artists. Dodiya’s proclivity for the avant-garde nurtures his practice with myth-like, often poetic interpretations of encyclopaedic ideas and interconnected cultural contexts, which he cultivates through complex social, political and art historical arrangements, juggling various image economies as a kind of cultural inheritance. Dodiya has presented numerous solo shows around the world, including at Gallerie Templon, Paris (2023); Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai (2022); Vadehra Art Gallery (2020, 2017, 2010, 2007); Galerie Templon, Brussels (2015, 2012); Nature Morte, Berlin (2010); Bose Pacia, New York (2005, 2003) among others, as well as mid-career retrospectives at the Contemporary Arts Centre, Cincinnati (2013); Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid (2002); and the Japan Foundation Asia Centre, Tokyo (2001). Major survey shows of his work have been held at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (2013) and Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai (2014). He has participated in the India Pavilion, 58th Venice Biennale (2019); 1st Kochi–Muziris Biennale (2012); 7th Asia Pacific Triennale, Brisbane (2012); Biennale Jogja XI (2011); 3rd Moscow Biennale (2009); 7th Gwangju Biennale (2008); Documenta12 (2007); 51st Venice Biennal (2005); and the 1st Yokohoma Triennal (2001). His work is included in several prominent collections, including the National Gallery Singapore; Ishara Art Foundation and the Prabhakar Collection, Dubai; the Guggenheim Museum; the Herwitz Collection, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; Tate Modern, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia; Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon; Detroit Institute of Arts, USA; Kunsthaus, Zurich; Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Tasmania, Australia; Burger Collection, Berlin and Hong Kong; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Mumbai; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; and Museum M+, Hong Kong, among others. A major monograph on Atul Dodiya, published by Prestel Verlag and Vadehra Art Gallery, released in January 2014. The artist lives and works in Mumbai, India. -
Nalini Malani (B. 1946)
Born in Karachi (undivided India) in 1946, Nalini Malani received a classical academic training in painting at the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai. With a celebrated and growing international presence, Malani has participated in innumerable solo and group exhibitions around the world, including the National Gallery, London (2023); M+, Hong Kong (2021–22); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2020–21); Max Mueller Bhavan Institute, Mumbai (2019); Arario Gallery, Shanghai (2018); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2017); the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2016); the Institute of Contemporary Art Indian Ocean, Mauritius (2015); Engadinar Museum, St Moritz (2014); Aicon Gallery, London (2011); and the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2011), to name just a few. The Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, presented Malani’s first retrospective in Italy and in France in 2019, and her first retrospective in India was held by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, in 2014. She has also participated extensively in biennales, including the Venice Biennale, dOCUMENTA, Bienal de São Paulo, the Istanbul Biennial, Gwangju Biennale, Sharjah Biennial, Shanghai Biennale, Prospect New Orleans, Kochi–Muziris Biennale and Taipei Biennial, among others. Her work is included in the collections of several important international institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Asia Society Museum, New York; The Burger Collection, Hong Kong; Hauser and Wirth, London; National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai and New Delhi; Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai; British Museum, London; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan; Kawaguchi Museum, Saitama; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Wilfredo Lam Center, Havana; and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, USA. In 2023, she was awarded the Kyoto Prize laureate in the arts and philosophy. She was also awarded the prestigious Joan Miró prize in 2019, granted by the Fundació Joan Miró and the Obra Social “la Caixa”. Malani received a grant from the French government to study in Paris as early as 1970, and more recently an honorary doctorate in fine arts from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2019; the Asian Art Game Changers Award in 2016; the St Moritz Art Masters Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014; and the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize in 2013. The artist lives and works between Mumbai, India, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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Benodebehari Mukherjee (1904 - 1980)
Born in Behala, a suburb of Calcutta, in 1904, Benodebehari Mukherjee was a painter and muralist of great distinction, a teacher of immense resources and influence, and an insightful thinker and writer on art. Mukherjee showed an early interest in murals, seeing in them an opportunity to work on an ambitious scale and to present a comprehensive vision of the world. Of several outstanding murals, the most important that he painted was in 1946–47 on three walls of the Hindi Bhavan at Santiniketan, based on the lives of the medieval saint-poets, presenting a vision of India’s past as an elaborate pageant. Later in life his eyesight began to decline rapidly, and after an unsuccessful surgery he lost his vision in 1957. However, this did not deter Mukherjee from his creative urge; he then moved towards paper-cuts, prints and sculpture. It was after losing his eyesight that he returned to Santiniketan to teach art history, and even developed his writing, gaining recognition as a modern writer in Bengali. His important exhibitions include the Centenary Retrospective exhibition of Benodebehari Mukherjee curated by Gulammohammed Sheikh and R. Siva Kumar at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), 2006–07; documenta14, Kassel, as part of Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA) – Pireos Street exhibit, Nikos Kessanlis Exhibition Hall, 2017; and Between Sight and Insight: Glimpses of Benodebehari Mukherjee, curated by R. Siva Kumar, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2019. Several honours were endowed on him including literary awards, an emeritus professorship at Visva Bharati, and an elected fellowship at the Lalit Kala Akademi. In 1974, Mukherjee was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Vibhushan. His works can be seen in the collections of the Tate Museum, London, and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi, as well as several important private collections. The artist died in 1980 at the age of seventy-six.
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Sudhir Patwardhan (B. 1949)
Born in Pune, Maharashtra, in 1949, Sudhir Patwardhan graduated in medicine from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, in 1972, and practised as a radiologist in Thane from 1975 to 2005. The social fabric of the bustling cityscapes of Thane and Mumbai and the lives of its inhabitants – particularly a sub-altern, rising middle class – are a continuing source of inspiration for Patwardhan, who demonstrates a tremendous empathy towards his surroundings. A full retrospective of Patwardhan’s work, titled Walking Through Soul City, curated by Nancy Adajania, was held at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, in 2019–2020. Patwardhan has held more than fifteen solo exhibitions, including at Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi (2017); Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai (2017); Gallerie 88, Kolkata (2016); Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai (2012); and Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (2011), to name a few. A large exhibition of selected works from 1970 to 2018 titled Hamsafar was held at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal (2018). A monograph on his work titled The Complicit Observer, written by Ranjit Hoskote, was published in 2004, followed by another book by the author on Patwardhan’s drawings in 2007, titled The Crafting of Reality. Most recently, the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, and the Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, published Walking Through Soul City, with texts by Nancy Adajania, R. Siva Kumar, Timothy Hyman and Madhav Imartey. Patwardhan’s paintings are included in many prominent public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and Mumbai; Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; Roopankar Museum, Bhopal; Jehangir Nicholson Collection, Mumbai; Punjab University Museum, Chandigarh; Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal; Gallery of Contemporary Art, Kochi; Peabody Essex Museum, USA; and the Herwitz Family Collection, USA. The artist lives and works in Thane, near Mumbai, India.
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Faiza Butt (B. 1973)
Born in 1973 in Lahore, Pakistan, Faiza Butt trained at the National College of Arts in Lahore and later obtained a master’s degree with distinction at the Slade School of Art in London. She also received a teaching certificate from the Institute of Education. Although living in London, Butt’s Pakistani roots are clearly evident in her work as she brings to our attention various social, gender and political issues faced by a young Pakistani. In the past, her work has taken a critical look on the stronghold of the patriarchal society in Pakistan and the impact of violent images, which appear regularly in all forms of media, on children. Butt’s elaborate drawings are obsessively crafted with passion and rigour, and create surfaces that hover between photography and embroidery. Her mid-career retrospective Paracosm opened at the New Art Exchange in April 2015. It travelled to the Art Exchange at the University of Essex in November 2015, then opening at the Attenborough Centre of Arts (University of Leicester) in October 2016, as the final chapter of its tour. The specially commissioned installation ‘Paracosm’ was shown at the Alchemy Festival at South Bank, London in May 2017. Her much-awaited next solo exhibition will be held at Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong, in 2023. She has had various solo shows, including Grosvenor Gallery, London (2021); the Attenborough Art Centre, UK (2016); the Art Exchange, UK (2015); Rossi & Rossi, London (2014); Canvas Gallery, Karachi (2014); Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2012); and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York (2012), among others. In 2021, a solo presentation of her paintings and sculptures was shown by Vadehra Art Gallery at Art Basel OVR: Portals. She has also participated in many group shows, including Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2021); Grosvenor Gallery, London (2020); Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts (2020); New Arts Exchange, Nottingham (2019); Aicon Gallery, New York (2019); Free World Centre, London (2016); Gujral Foundation, New Delhi (2015); Leila Heller Chelsea Gallery, New York (2014); SOAS, University of London (2014); and the Contemporary Arts Centre, Boston (2013), among others. Butt was awarded a UNESCO-Aschberg Bursary and was artist-in-residence at the Bartle Arts Trust (BAT) in Durban, South Africa, in 1995. She was nominated for the Jameel Prize by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in 2011, and was a finalist for the Sovereign Art Prize, Hong Kong, in 2009. The artist lives and works in London, UK.
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Anju Dodiya (B. 1964)
Born in 1964 in Mumbai, India, Anju Dodiya received her fine arts degree from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai. Dodiya has had major exhibitions worldwide, with recent participations including the Sharjah Biennale (2023); Conversations on Tomorrow, Sadie Coles, London (2022); Anatomy of a Flame, Frieze Cork Street, London (2022); Tower of Slowness, Galerie Templon, Brussels (2021); Every Soiled Page (curated by Sabih Ahmed), Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai (2020); The Air is a Mill of Hooks, Bikaner House, New Delhi (2018); Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life (curated by Anita Dube), fourth edition of the Kochi–Muziris Biennale (2018); Visions from India, Transforming Vision: 21st Century Art from the Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, Ohio, USA (2017); The Journey is the Destination: The Artist’s Journey between Then and Now, Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, Mumbai (2016); Continuing Traditions, Musée de la Toile de Jouy, France (2015); The Eye and The Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, China (2015), among others. She has also completed the site-specific installation Throne of Frost at the Lakshmi Vilas Palace, Baroda (2007), and presented at earlier noteworthy exhibitions such as New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India (curated by Betty Seid), Chicago Cultural Centre, Chicago (2007); Making Worlds (curated by Daniel Birnbaum), 53rd Venice Biennale, Venice (2009); and the Fifth Beijing International Art Biennale, National Museum of China, Beijing (2012). She will also be participating in the upcoming Sharjah Biennale in 2023. She is included in several private and public collections, including the Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunisia; Tate Modern, London; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Mumbai; Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, Mumbai; the Ishara Art Foundation and the Prabhakar Collection, Dubai; the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon; Burger Collection, Hong Kong; RPG Enterprises, Mumbai; TAPI Collection of Shilpa and Praful Shah, India; the Art Institute of Chicago and Zabludowicz Collection, Finland. The artist lives and works in Mumbai, India.
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Praneet Soi (B. 1971)
Born in 1971 in Kolkata, Praneet Soi completed a bachelor’s and master’s of fine arts in painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, after which he worked briefly in the advertising industry in New Delhi. He went on to do a second master’s at the University of California at San Diego. Soi has had several solo exhibitions, including at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2021, 2016, 2011 and 2009); the Mosaic Rooms, London (2019); Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, (2018); the CCA Deri Londonderry, UK (2017); Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai (2017); the Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands (2016); Experimenter, Kolkata (2015); Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam (2012); Museo Experimental El Eco, Mexico City (2011); and ARTSPACE, Sydney (2011), to name a few. His group participations include the viewing room at Frieze, No. 9 Cork Street, London (2023); Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland (2018); the Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh (2018); the 6th Asian Biennale, Taiwan (2017); the Sharjah Biennale, UAE (2016); the Sursock Museum, Beirut, (2016); the Kochi–Muziris Biennale, Kochi (2016); Today Art Museum, Beijing (2016); the 5th Guangzhou Triennial, China (2015); the Witte De With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2014); the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (2013); the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Noida (2012); and the 54th Venice Biennale, India Pavilion (2011), among others. Soi’s work is included in several important collections, including the Ishara Art Foundation and the Prabhakar Collection, Dubai; the Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven; the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Soi has also completed several residencies, most recently at the Luceberthuis in Bergen-Binnen, North Holland, in 2021; the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, in 2017; the Pompgemaal Atelier (Den Helder), Mondriaan Foundation, Netherlands, in 2015; and Stifftung Laurenz-Haus, Basel, Switzerland, in 2014. He was also granted a research fellowship at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC for studying illuminated manuscripts at the Sackler and Freer Galleries in 2014. The artist lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. -
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Sujith S.N. (B. 1979)
Born in 1979 in Baroda, Gujarat, India, Sujith completed an MFA from the Sarojini Naidu School of Fine Arts, Performing Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad in 2007, and a BFA from the College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, University of Calicut in 2005. He also has a diploma as a civil draughtsman. Sujith has had several solo exhibitions, including Aicon Gallery, New York (2021, 2019); Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2021, 2020); Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (2017, 2010, 2008); Forum Art Gallery, Chennai (2013); and HSLU, Luzern, Switzerland (2012). He has also participated in shows at Bose Krishnamachari, Kerala (2021–22); Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad (2018); Shrine Empire, New Delhi (2018); Akara Art, Mumbai (2018); Art Basel Hong Kong (2016); Religare Art, Delhi (2013); Durbar Hall, Kochi (2013, 2007); William Benton Museum, USA (2013); and Bodhi Gallery, New Delhi (2011), to name a few. He has won several awards including the Kerala Lalit Kala Academy special mention award in 2004, the Kerala Lalit Kala Academy state award in 2005 and the Foundation of Indian Contemporary Art emerging artist award in 2011. He was also long-listed for the Skoda Prize in 201 and was a finalist for the Sovereign Asia Art Prize in 2019. The artist lives and works in Mumbai, India.
IMAGINE US (For We Don’t Really Exist If You Don’t): A Collection of Portraits
Past viewing_room
