G R Iranna
Solo Exhibitions
Boodi (Ash in) Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2021.
The Primordial Ash; Aicon Gallery, New York in 2017.
Ether is all that is; Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2017.
And the last shall be the first, National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru in 2016.
Tempered Branches; AICON Gallery, New York in 2014.
Limning Heterotopias, Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2012.
Thought of the day, Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi in 2012.
Scaffolding the Absent; The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2011.
Ribbed Routes; The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai (India) in 2010.
Birth of Blindness, The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi (India) and Aicon Gallery, London (UK) and New York (USA) in 2008.
The Dancer on the Horse; Berkeley Square Gallery, London (UK) in 2007.
Disorder and Early Sufferings; Gallery Müller and Plate, Munich (Germany) in 2006.
King of Clay; Gallery Arts India, New York and California (USA) in 2006.
Early Works; Gallery Müller and Plate, Munich (Germany) in 2005.
Threads of Humanism; Bodhi Art Gallery, New Delhi (India) and Singapore in 2005.
Dream & Perplexity; The Guild, at Chitra Kala Parishath, Bengaluru in 2003.
The Enigma of Departure; The British Council, Mumbaiand The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2001.
Gallery Espace, New Delhi and Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Cairo (Egypt), organized by Indian Embassy in Cairo, Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Cairo (Egypt) and Gallery Espace, New Delhi (India)in 2000.
Foyer Gallery, Wimbledon School of Art, London (UK) in 2000.
In the Shadow of Buddha; Gallery Martini, Hong Kong in 1999.
Shadows of the Real; Shridharani Gallery and Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 1998.
Edge Dynamics; Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi & Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai in 1995.
College of Visual Art, Gulbarga in 1992.
Group Exhibitions
"An Unlocated Window of Myself", Gallery Dotwalk, Gurgaon in 2022.
Together & Apart ,Studio Art ,New Delhi, India in 2021.
Boodi (Ash), Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2021.
Works on Paper: Mapping Subjects & Methods , The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2020.
The Wheel of Time, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2020.
Katarvel: Journeys into The Foundation B&G Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai in 2020.
Sightings: out of the wild, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Noida in 2019.
The End of Nature, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2019.
Khushii Art Loot, Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad in 2019.
Delicate Bond of Steel, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2018.
The Work of Art: Iteration in Multiples, Fragments and Reflection. Part II, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2017.
Ether Is All That Is, Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2017.
Forming in the pupil of an Eye, Kochi Muziris Biennale, Kerala in 2016.
The Eye and The Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art, NGMA, New Delhi in 2016.
The Eye and The Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (China) in 2015.
Born in 1970 at Sindgi, in Bijapur of Karnataka.The works of G R Iranna are the portraits of the inner landscapes that transcend the boundaries of time and space, at the same time imbibing its spirit. He started painting professionally at the tender age of ten years.
The works of G R Iranna are the portraits of the inner landscapes that transcend the boundaries of time and space, at the same time imbibing its spirit. Born in 1970, at Sindgi, in Bijapur District of Karnataka, he started painting professionally at the tender age of ten years.
Born in an agrarian family and brought up in the environs of a humble ashram, Iranna, who hails from the family of Shaivaite believers, studied in a Gurukul and lived in an ashram for almost seven years in the young age. Both these experiences influenced his creative thinking deeply.
Those who see his paintings can easily make out the farming and fertility images present in his works, where the sensuousness of the earth’s body bathed in golden sunlight is a recurrent feel. The fertility images are linked to the Shiva-Shakti and the linga-yoni concepts of Indian mythology, which add energy and vigour to his compositions.
But when he depicts these images in his compositions, we can feel that he is not just portraying them but personalising them with great vigour. He always updates his visual vocabulary through questioning himself and his surroundings, thus giving a socio-political dimension to his creations. Iranna is very much concerned about power politics, violence, displacement and the issues that affect the peaceful existence of the humanity. While his works were more figurative depictions earlier, in recent years, his renderings have moved to abstractions. “But the work is not divorced from the human condition,” says the artist who uses the idealistic, representative and modernist language of Indian contemporary art.
It is observed that many of Iranna’s paintings reflect pain as an abstract force that is translated visually in bruised textures. It can be seen that the Gurukul education and the life in an ashram as a young boy helped him to form a strong connection to his cultural roots, which enters his work alongside his exploration of the antitheses of inherent dualities of the world. In many of his works the influence of Buddhist art is also evident.
He loves to experiment with different mediums. While he began painting oil on canvases, he later developed his range of medium, and at one point he started using tarpaulin instead of canvas. These mediums enhance the texture and dimension of the works on canvas and installations, as part of the exploration into the realms of the unknown. His paintings are all heavily worked upon, built up with a multitude of layers.
Through his visual interventions, he also shows how we have failed to articulate a language to explain our origins, our destination and our sense of purpose in the collective solitude of humankind. Even when we are together, we stand alone in tackling these questions that concern each of us and define the nature of our mortality.
It was in 2019 that Iranna did a huge, wall-based installation, ‘Naavu’ (We Together), comprising over 600 padukas (wooden slippers), as part of the India Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, which caught international attention. The installation, which was a revisit of the historic Dandi March of 1930, resembled an ocean of protestors marching ahead.
His works are in the collections in the prestigious collections of many institutions in India and abroad, including National Gallery of Modern Art - New Delhi, David Robert Collection - London, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Rajshree Pathy Collection, Singapore Art Museum, Chester & David Hurwitz – USA, SAM Museum – USA, Bharat Bhavan – Bhopal and Lalit Kala Akademi New Delhi. Also (India). Also, his works have found place in the personal collections in India, Germany, Holland, France, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, UK and other countries.
Iranna lives and works in New Delhi.
Academics
Education
1999: Studied at Wimbledon School of Art, London
1994: MFA Painting, College of Art, Delhi
1992: BFA Painting, College of Visual Art, Gulbarga
Awards
ABPF Foundation, Signature Art Prize, Singapore Art Museum Jury Award in 2008.
Artist of the Year Award, Harmony Show, Mumbai in 2004.
KK Hebbar Foundation Award in 2002.
State Award, Karnataka Lalit Kala Akademi, Bangalore in 2001.
40th National Academy Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in 1997.
50 years of Art in Independent India, All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society Award, Delhi in 1997.
In Search of Talent, MF Husain and Ram Kumar Selection Award, Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi in 1993.
Bansi Parimu Memorial Committee, New Delhi in 1993.
Delhi College of Art, New Delhi in 1993.
College of Visual Art, Gulbarga (India) in 1991-92.
All India Exhibition, Mysore Dasara, Mysore (India) in 1991.
All India Fine Arts Exhibition, Gadag (India) in 1991.
4th All India Exhibition South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur (India) in 1990.
Show less
Born in 1970 at Sindgi, in Bijapur of Karnataka.The works of G R Iranna are the portraits of the inner landscapes that transcend the boundaries of time and space, at the same time imbibing its spirit. He started painting professionally at the tender age of ten years. The works of G R Iranna are
Born in 1970 at Sindgi, in Bijapur of Karnataka.The works of G R Iranna are the portraits of the inner landscapes that transcend the boundaries of time and space, at the same time imbibing its spirit. He started painting professionally at the tender age of ten years.
The works of G R Iranna are the portraits of the inner landscapes that transcend the boundaries of time and space, at the same time imbibing its spirit. Born in 1970, at Sindgi, in Bijapur District of Karnataka, he started painting professionally at the tender age of ten years.
Born in an agrarian family and brought up in the environs of a humble ashram, Iranna, who hails from the family of Shaivaite believers, studied in a Gurukul and lived in an ashram for almost seven years in the young age. Both these experiences influenced his creative thinking deeply.
Those who see his paintings can easily make out the farming and fertility images present in his works, where the sensuousness of the earth’s body bathed in golden sunlight is a recurrent feel. The fertility images are linked to the Shiva-Shakti and the linga-yoni concepts of Indian mythology, which add energy and vigour to his compositions.
But when he depicts these images in his compositions, we can feel that he is not just portraying them but personalising them with great vigour. He always updates his visual vocabulary through questioning himself and his surroundings, thus giving a socio-political dimension to his creations. Iranna is very much concerned about power politics, violence, displacement and the issues that affect the peaceful existence of the humanity. While his works were more figurative depictions earlier, in recent years, his renderings have moved to abstractions. “But the work is not divorced from the human condition,” says the artist who uses the idealistic, representative and modernist language of Indian contemporary art.
It is observed that many of Iranna’s paintings reflect pain as an abstract force that is translated visually in bruised textures. It can be seen that the Gurukul education and the life in an ashram as a young boy helped him to form a strong connection to his cultural roots, which enters his work alongside his exploration of the antitheses of inherent dualities of the world. In many of his works the influence of Buddhist art is also evident.
He loves to experiment with different mediums. While he began painting oil on canvases, he later developed his range of medium, and at one point he started using tarpaulin instead of canvas. These mediums enhance the texture and dimension of the works on canvas and installations, as part of the exploration into the realms of the unknown. His paintings are all heavily worked upon, built up with a multitude of layers.
Through his visual interventions, he also shows how we have failed to articulate a language to explain our origins, our destination and our sense of purpose in the collective solitude of humankind. Even when we are together, we stand alone in tackling these questions that concern each of us and define the nature of our mortality.
It was in 2019 that Iranna did a huge, wall-based installation, ‘Naavu’ (We Together), comprising over 600 padukas (wooden slippers), as part of the India Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, which caught international attention. The installation, which was a revisit of the historic Dandi March of 1930, resembled an ocean of protestors marching ahead.
His works are in the collections in the prestigious collections of many institutions in India and abroad, including National Gallery of Modern Art - New Delhi, David Robert Collection - London, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Rajshree Pathy Collection, Singapore Art Museum, Chester & David Hurwitz – USA, SAM Museum – USA, Bharat Bhavan – Bhopal and Lalit Kala Akademi New Delhi. Also (India). Also, his works have found place in the personal collections in India, Germany, Holland, France, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, UK and other countries.
Iranna lives and works in New Delhi.
Academics
Education
1999: Studied at Wimbledon School of Art, London
1994: MFA Painting, College of Art, Delhi
1992: BFA Painting, College of Visual Art, Gulbarga
Awards
ABPF Foundation, Signature Art Prize, Singapore Art Museum Jury Award in 2008.
Artist of the Year Award, Harmony Show, Mumbai in 2004.
KK Hebbar Foundation Award in 2002.
State Award, Karnataka Lalit Kala Akademi, Bangalore in 2001.
40th National Academy Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in 1997.
50 years of Art in Independent India, All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society Award, Delhi in 1997.
In Search of Talent, MF Husain and Ram Kumar Selection Award, Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi in 1993.
Bansi Parimu Memorial Committee, New Delhi in 1993.
Delhi College of Art, New Delhi in 1993.
College of Visual Art, Gulbarga (India) in 1991-92.
All India Exhibition, Mysore Dasara, Mysore (India) in 1991.
All India Fine Arts Exhibition, Gadag (India) in 1991.
4th All India Exhibition South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur (India) in 1990.
Born in 1970 at Sindgi, in Bijapur of Karnataka.The works of G R Iranna are the portraits of the inner landscapes that transcend the boundaries of time and space, at the same time imbibing its spirit. He started painting professionally at the tender age of ten years.
The works of G R Iranna are the portraits of the inner landscapes that transcend the boundaries of time and space, at the same time imbibing its spirit. Born in 1970, at Sindgi, in Bijapur District of Karnataka, he started painting professionally at the tender age of ten years.
Born in an agrarian family and brought up in the environs of a humble ashram, Iranna, who hails from the family of Shaivaite believers, studied in a Gurukul and lived in an ashram for almost seven years in the young age. Both these experiences influenced his creative thinking deeply.
Those who see his paintings can easily make out the farming and fertility images present in his works, where the sensuousness of the earth’s body bathed in golden sunlight is a recurrent feel. The fertility images are linked to the Shiva-Shakti and the linga-yoni concepts of Indian mythology, which add energy and vigour to his compositions.
But when he depicts these images in his compositions, we can feel that he is not just portraying them but personalising them with great vigour. He always updates his visual vocabulary through questioning himself and his surroundings, thus giving a socio-political dimension to his creations. Iranna is very much concerned about power politics, violence, displacement and the issues that affect the peaceful existence of the humanity. While his works were more figurative depictions earlier, in recent years, his renderings have moved to abstractions. “But the work is not divorced from the human condition,” says the artist who uses the idealistic, representative and modernist language of Indian contemporary art.
It is observed that many of Iranna’s paintings reflect pain as an abstract force that is translated visually in bruised textures. It can be seen that the Gurukul education and the life in an ashram as a young boy helped him to form a strong connection to his cultural roots, which enters his work alongside his exploration of the antitheses of inherent dualities of the world. In many of his works the influence of Buddhist art is also evident.
He loves to experiment with different mediums. While he began painting oil on canvases, he later developed his range of medium, and at one point he started using tarpaulin instead of canvas. These mediums enhance the texture and dimension of the works on canvas and installations, as part of the exploration into the realms of the unknown. His paintings are all heavily worked upon, built up with a multitude of layers.
Through his visual interventions, he also shows how we have failed to articulate a language to explain our origins, our destination and our sense of purpose in the collective solitude of humankind. Even when we are together, we stand alone in tackling these questions that concern each of us and define the nature of our mortality.
It was in 2019 that Iranna did a huge, wall-based installation, ‘Naavu’ (We Together), comprising over 600 padukas (wooden slippers), as part of the India Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, which caught international attention. The installation, which was a revisit of the historic Dandi March of 1930, resembled an ocean of protestors marching ahead.
His works are in the collections in the prestigious collections of many institutions in India and abroad, including National Gallery of Modern Art - New Delhi, David Robert Collection - London, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Rajshree Pathy Collection, Singapore Art Museum, Chester & David Hurwitz – USA, SAM Museum – USA, Bharat Bhavan – Bhopal and Lalit Kala Akademi New Delhi. Also (India). Also, his works have found place in the personal collections in India, Germany, Holland, France, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, UK and other countries.
Iranna lives and works in New Delhi.
The Primordial Ash; Aicon Gallery, New York in 2017.
Ether is all that is; Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2017.
And the last shall be the first, National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru in 2016.
Tempered Branches; AICON Gallery, New York in 2014.
Limning Heterotopias, Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2012.
Thought of the day, Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi in 2012.
Scaffolding the Absent; The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2011.
Ribbed Routes; The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai (India) in 2010.
Birth of Blindness, The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi (India) and Aicon Gallery, London (UK) and New York (USA) in 2008.
The Dancer on the Horse; Berkeley Square Gallery, London (UK) in 2007.
Disorder and Early Sufferings; Gallery Müller and Plate, Munich (Germany) in 2006.
King of Clay; Gallery Arts India, New York and California (USA) in 2006.
Early Works; Gallery Müller and Plate, Munich (Germany) in 2005.
Threads of Humanism; Bodhi Art Gallery, New Delhi (India) and Singapore in 2005.
Dream & Perplexity; The Guild, at Chitra Kala Parishath, Bengaluru in 2003.
The Enigma of Departure; The British Council, Mumbaiand The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2001.
Gallery Espace, New Delhi and Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Cairo (Egypt), organized by Indian Embassy in Cairo, Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Cairo (Egypt) and Gallery Espace, New Delhi (India)in 2000.
Foyer Gallery, Wimbledon School of Art, London (UK) in 2000.
In the Shadow of Buddha; Gallery Martini, Hong Kong in 1999.
Shadows of the Real; Shridharani Gallery and Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 1998.
Edge Dynamics; Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi & Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai in 1995.
College of Visual Art, Gulbarga in 1992.
Group Exhibitions
"An Unlocated Window of Myself", Gallery Dotwalk, Gurgaon in 2022.
Together & Apart ,Studio Art ,New Delhi, India in 2021.
Boodi (Ash), Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2021.
Works on Paper: Mapping Subjects & Methods , The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2020.
The Wheel of Time, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2020.
Katarvel: Journeys into The Foundation B&G Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai in 2020.
Sightings: out of the wild, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Noida in 2019.
The End of Nature, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2019.
Khushii Art Loot, Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad in 2019.
Delicate Bond of Steel, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2018.
The Work of Art: Iteration in Multiples, Fragments and Reflection. Part II, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2017.
Ether Is All That Is, Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2017.
Forming in the pupil of an Eye, Kochi Muziris Biennale, Kerala in 2016.
The Eye and The Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art, NGMA, New Delhi in 2016.
The Eye and The Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (China) in 2015.
Show less
Solo Exhibitions
Boodi (Ash in) Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2021.
The Primordial Ash; Aicon Gallery, New York in 2017.
Ether is all that is; Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2017.
And the last shall be the first, National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru in 2016.
Tempered Branches; AICON Gallery, New York in 2014.
Limning Heterotopias, Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2012.
Thought of the day, Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi in 2012.
Scaffolding the Absent; The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2011.
Ribbed Routes; The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai (India) in 2010.
Birth of Blindness, The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi (India) and Aicon Gallery, London (UK) and New York (USA) in 2008.
The Dancer on the Horse; Berkeley Square Gallery, London (UK) in 2007.
Disorder and Early Sufferings; Gallery Müller and Plate, Munich (Germany) in 2006.
King of Clay; Gallery Arts India, New York and California (USA) in 2006.
Early Works; Gallery Müller and Plate, Munich (Germany) in 2005.
Threads of Humanism; Bodhi Art Gallery, New Delhi (India) and Singapore in 2005.
Dream & Perplexity; The Guild, at Chitra Kala Parishath, Bengaluru in 2003.
The Enigma of Departure; The British Council, Mumbaiand The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2001.
Gallery Espace, New Delhi and Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Cairo (Egypt), organized by Indian Embassy in Cairo, Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Cairo (Egypt) and Gallery Espace, New Delhi (India)in 2000.
Foyer Gallery, Wimbledon School of Art, London (UK) in 2000.
In the Shadow of Buddha; Gallery Martini, Hong Kong in 1999.
Shadows of the Real; Shridharani Gallery and Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 1998.
Edge Dynamics; Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi & Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai in 1995.
College of Visual Art, Gulbarga in 1992.
Group Exhibitions
"An Unlocated Window of Myself", Gallery Dotwalk, Gurgaon in 2022.
Together & Apart ,Studio Art ,New Delhi, India in 2021.
Boodi (Ash), Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2021.
Works on Paper: Mapping Subjects & Methods , The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2020.
The Wheel of Time, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2020.
Katarvel: Journeys into The Foundation B&G Collection, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai in 2020.
Sightings: out of the wild, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Noida in 2019.
The End of Nature, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2019.
Khushii Art Loot, Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad in 2019.
Delicate Bond of Steel, Aicon Gallery, New York in 2018.
The Work of Art: Iteration in Multiples, Fragments and Reflection. Part II, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2017.
Ether Is All That Is, Gallery Espace, New Delhi in 2017.
Forming in the pupil of an Eye, Kochi Muziris Biennale, Kerala in 2016.
The Eye and The Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art, NGMA, New Delhi in 2016.
The Eye and The Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (China) in 2015.
