Jitish Kallat
ABOUT
One of the most exciting and dynamic Asian artists to have received international recognition in recent years
Painter | India
Born in 1974
Died in 2018
Jitish Kallat is one of the most exciting and dynamic Asian artists to have received international recognition in recent years. He is one of the most promising artists of his generation. His work Imbued with autobiographical, political and artistic references, forms a narrative of the cycle of life in a rapidly changing India. Weaving together strands of sociology, biology and archeology, the artist takes an ironic poetic look at the altered relationship between nature and culture. Working across a variety of media including painting, sculpture, photography and installation, his work reflects a deep involvement with the city of his birth (Mumbai) and drives much of its visual language from his immediate urban environment. Wider concerns include India’s attempts to negotiate its entry into globalized economy, addressing housing and transportation crisis, city planning, caste and communal tensions and government accountability. Many of Kallat’s work focus on Mumbai’s disposed inhabitants and traditionally mounts his paintings on bronze sculptures. The city street is my university, one finds all the themes of life and art I.e. Pain, happiness, anger, violence and compassion, played out here in full volume. Jitesh Kallat quoted in the asian art newspaper, Feb 2010 “Scale is merely one of the many tools one can deploy in the creation of meaning, and decision such as big, small, Lifesize etc are as much as of meaning creation as they may be retinal or aesthetic considerations” EDUCTATION • Bachelor of Arts from Sir J.J School of Art, Mumbai, 1996