Apr 05 2025 to May 20 2025 10 a.m.

Where

National Gallery Of Modern Art

49, GF, Manikyavelu Mansion, Palace Rd, Vasanth Nagar 560052

Event Description

In April 2025, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath will present a major research-driven retrospective on Indian modernist K.G. Subramanyan (1924–2016). Curated by cultural theorist Nancy Adajania, this centenary exhibition is the largest held in South India since the artist’s passing. It will re-examine Subramanyan’s work in the broader context of postcolonial Indian modernism.

The Bangalore edition builds on the earlier iteration of the centenary show held at Emami Art, Kolkata, in 2024. It includes an expanded selection of works, such as Chinnamasta (1991), Girl with Cat Boy (1991), Birbhum Nativity (1991), Devi II and III (2008), and Madonna and Child (2005)—many of which have not been on public view in two decades.

The exhibition also features key transitional works from the mid-1960s, on loan from the Piramal Art Foundation, and the complete At the Jincheng Hotel (1985) series—drawings made during the artist’s travels in rural China.

Subramanyan’s role as a writer, teacher, and cultural theorist will be highlighted alongside his visual practice. Trained at Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan, and the Slade School in London, Subramanyan worked across mediums for over seven decades. The exhibition will include more than 200 works: early paintings from the 1950s, reverse paintings on acrylic, gouaches, drawings, toys from his Fine Arts Fair contributions at MS University Baroda, and previously unseen archival material, including book mock-ups, mural sketches, and maquettes for The War of the Relics (2013).

The exhibition aims to revisit and expand the understanding of Subramanyan’s multifaceted practice beyond conventional readings.