B Manjunath Kamath

Biography:

Born in 1972 in Mangalore, Manjunath Kamath is a versatile Indian contemporary artist who predominantly explores painting, drawing, collage, digital prints, and terracotta sculptures. He completed his BFA in sculpture from the Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts, Mysore (1989-1994) and was an artist in residence at the School of Art & Design, University of Wales, Cardiff (2002). His works often exhibit the ordinary and commonplace elements which are gathered from his vast reservoir of visual references. The resulting works are humorous, peculiar, and witty, bringing together inquisitive characters and objects in unique ways.

As a visual artist, Kamath frequently rediscovers his style of storytelling by alternating his articulation techniques and updating the visual language. Manjunath Kamath’s gift lies in fashioning fantasies out of the mundane. His images are drawn from the memories of the past or the existing reality. He is influenced by the sculptures, frescos, and carvings in temples, churches, and Jain temples in Karnataka, his native place. The figures of Yakshagana, Indian epics, classical European paintings, and Persian and Indian miniature paintings also become the beacon behind his works.

Manjunath Kamath uses fragmented imagery with a sense of playfulness. He merges the images with various geometric patterns, textile prints, or the decorations on a temple. Through a rigorous layering process, he creates works that resemble a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be completed by the spectator. Kamath also has knowledge of traditional iconography, and his body of works reflects his understanding of myriad cultures, techniques and conventions in incorporating numerous elements.

Kamath has held several solo exhibitions: ‘As Far as I Know’ at the Scad Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, in 2015 and a solo titled ‘Archival Erasures’ at Abu Dhabi Art 2019, ‘Collective Nouns’, at Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, in 2011; ‘Conscious-Sub-Conscious’; ‘108 Small Stories’ & ‘Something Happened’ at Gallery Espace, New Delhi, in 2010, 2007 & 2006; and ‘About Something’ at Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi, in 1996.

Kamath has presented his work in numerous group shows and has been invited to participate in a number of curated exhibitions, both in India and overseas. The most recent include, ‘Living Walls: where gallery walls become artist’s canvas’ A collaborative art project with Art Alive Gallery, 2013; ‘Narratives of the Self: Autobiographies’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2012; ‘Giant Elephant’, Indian contemporary art exhibition, H. Cube Ltd., Seoul, Korea in 2011; ‘Roots’, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai in 2010; ‘Marvelous Reality’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi; ‘Retrieval Systems’, curated by Ranjit Hoskote, Art Alive, New Delhi; ‘Reclaim / Recite / Recycle’, Travancore Art Gallery, New Delhi; Bose Pacia, Kolkata in 2009; ‘ARCO Art Fair’, Madrid, Spain in 2009; ‘Chaos in Order’, 29 Hang Bai, Hanoi, Vietnam in 2008.

He has been awarded the Charles Wallace Scholarship, U.K. Kamath’s works are present in numerous private and public collections, the prominent among them the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Art Institute of Chicago in the U.S., Museum of Sacred Art in Belgium, National Gallery of Modern Art, and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Modern Art.

He lives and works in New Delhi.

Artworks By B Manjunath Kamath