Born :1969 Kalikapur Orissa
Sudhansu is from the eastern Indian state of Orissa. In the words of eminent poet Kathleen Laine “The ‘real’ Orissa is what the imagination has created in her heritage of music, painting, architecture, poetry, all the crafts and arts together with her incomparable continuity in thought, and expression.” Whether it is Buddhism, Sculpture (The Sun Temple at Konark) or Odissi dance, Orissa has an impressionable image in Indian psyche and its history.
Born in 1969 in Kalikapur village of Orissa, life was tough for the aspiring artist who graduated in Fine Arts from Utkal University (1993), Orissa. Sudhansu started with a quest to travel across Orissa on his bicycle to explore more than what he visualized of life outside his village. Convinced that he was to pursue art as a career, he felt the need to shift base to Delhi in 1994.
Struggling to find gallery representation at the time, he made ends meet in the capital by painting large format billboards surrounding Delhi’s most expansive exhibition space at Pragati Maidan. He continued to do a variety of odd jobs and endured as an artist; finding some recognition through a gallery in Japan that helped him sustain a modest living in the capital for the last decade.
His new work is representational of his roots from Orissa and the time he spent in Delhi. A marvelous combination of his rural psychological imagery and his complex survival in the big city reveals some visually salient images.
The artist lives and works in Delhi.
Exhibitions :
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2012 Art Heritage, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi
2007 Art Musings, Mumbai
2006 ‘We want Your Life’, Gallery Alternatives, Gurgaon, Harayana
1999 ‘Fact Beyond Fact’, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1996 Sizoka Art Gallery, Japan
1991 Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra
Selected Group Exhibitions :
2012 ‘Angkor Wat: An Indian Perspective’, Gallery Art and Soul, Mumbai
2011 ‘The Lost Sparrow’, presented by Gallery Threshold at Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2011 Gallery Sumukha, Chennai
2010 ‘Who Has Seen Gandhi?’, presented by Tangerine Art Space at Raj Bhavan; KynKyny Art Gallery and Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore
2010 ‘Indian (Sub)Way’, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi; Grosvenor Vadehra, London
2010 1 x 1 Art Gallery, Dubai
2010 ‘Next…’, Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Hong Kong
2009 ‘Vicissitudes of the Constructed Image’, Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore
2006 ‘Aspects of Modern & Indian Culture’, Saffronart, Mumbai
2006 ‘Works on Paper’, Saffronart, Mumbai
2000 ‘Art for Sale’, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1996 Guru Shishya Parampara Exhibition at Jurigi Art Gallery, Japan
1996 Three Contemporary Orissa Artists Exhibition at Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi
1996 Punjab Lalit Kala Academy, Chandigarh
Joint Exhibitions :
1999 Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
Participations :
2014 ‘Ode to Monumental: Celebration, Visuality, Ideology’, presented by Saffronart at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2012 ‘Art for Humanity’, Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai
2010 ‘Master’s Corner’, organized by Indian Contemporary Art Journal at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; India International Art Fair, New Delhi
2010 ‘Evolve: 10th Anniversary Show’, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2008,07 ‘Harmony Show’, Nehru Centre, Mumbai
1995 20th Oriya Artists Exhibition at Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi
Honours and Awards :
2002 Delhi State Exhibition (AIFACS) Award for Entry titled, ‘Paper Boat for Hope’
1998 50 years of Independence Art Show Award, Orissa
1997 Winter Show State Award by Working Artists Association, Orissa
1993 Kalinga Charu Kala Award, Orissa
