Brief Bio:
G. R. Iranna was born in Sindhgi, Bijapur, Karnataka, 1970. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the College of Visual Art, Gulbarga, 1992, and a Master’s Degree with specialization in Painting from the College of Art, New Delhi, 1994. Iranna was awarded the Charles Wallace Scholarship by the British Council in 1999 and was an artist-in-residence at the Wimbledon School of Art, London. Over the years, he has received many awards including the ABPF Foundation, Signature Art Prize, Singapore; the K. K. Hebbar Foundation Award; In Search of Talent, M. F. Husain and Ram Kumar Selection Award including National Academy Award 1998 from Lalit Kala Akademi New Delhi.
Iranna’s museum and institutional shows include Venice Biennale (2019) curated by Roobina Karode and presented by KNMA and NGMA; Kochi Muziris Biennale, 2018 curated by Sudarshan Shetty; ‘And the last shall be the first: G. R. Iranna works 1995-2015’ by National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru in collaboration with The Guild (2016); ‘The Eye and the Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art’, organised by National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, at the Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China, curated by Prof. Rajeev Lochan (2015); The Heritage Transport Museum, New Delhi, curated by Priya Pall (2011); Museo de la toile de Jouy Espace d’art contemporain, Paris; ’Roots in the Air, Branches Below: Modern & Contemporary Art from India’, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California, USA (2011); ‘Crossings: Time Unfolded’, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi, curated by Roobina Karode (2011); ‘The Intuitive-Logic Revisited’, from Osians Collection at The World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland (2011); ‘Go See India’, curated by Amit Mukhopadhyay and Oscar Aschan, Gothenburg, Sweden (2010).
Iranna’s solo shows include ‘The Primordial Ash’, 2017 and ‘Tempered Branches’, 2014, Aicon Gallery, New York; ‘Ether Is All That Is’, 2017 and ‘Limning Heterotopias: A Journey into G. R. Iranna's Shadows of the In Between’, 2012, Gallery Espace, New Delhi; ‘Scaffolding the Absent’, The Guild, Mumbai, 2011; ‘Ribbed Routes’, The Guild, Mumbai, 2010; ‘Birth of Blindness’, the Stainless Gallery, New Delhi; ‘The Dancer on the Horse’, Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK, 2007.
Prominent publications featuring Iranna’s works include, And the last shall be the first: G. R. Iranna, Works 1995 - 2015, Essay by Ranjit Hoskote, Published by The Guild, 2016; The Dancer on the Horse: Reflections on the Art of Iranna G. R. (Contemporary Indian Artists), by Ranjit Hoskote, published by Lund Humphries, 2007; G. R. Iranna Ribbed Routes, essay by Deekha Nath, Published by The Guild, 2010.
CV:
1970 Born in Bijapur, Karnataka
EDUCATION
1999 Artist in residency at Wimbledon School of Art, London
1994 M.F.A. Painting from College of Art, Delhi
1992 B.F.A. Painting from College of Visual Art, Gulbarga
SOLO SHOWS
2017 The Primordial Ash, Aicon Gallery, New York.
2017 Ether is all that is, Gallery Espace, New Delhi.
2014 Tempered Branches, Aicon Gallery, New York
2012 Limning Heterotopias: A Journey into G. R. Iranna's Shadows of the In‐Between, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2012 Thought of the Day, Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi
2011 Scaffolding the Absent, The Guild, Mumbai
2010 Ribbed Routes, The Guild, Mumbai
2008 Birth of Blindness, The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi and Aicon Gallery, London and New York
2007 The Dance on the Horse, Berkeley Square Gallery, London
2006 Disorder and Early Sufferings, Gallery Muller and Plate, Munich
2006 King of Clay, Gallery ArtsIndia, New York and California
2005 Early Works, Gallery Muller and Plate, Munich
2005 Threads of Humanism, Bodhi Art, New Delhi and Singapore
2003 Dream and Perplexity, The Guild at Chitra Kala Parishath, Bangalore
2001 The Enigma of Departure, at The British Council, Mumbai, and The Guild, Mumbai
2000 Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1999 In the Shadow of Buddha, Gallery Martini, Hong Kong
1998 Shadows of the Real, Shridharini and Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1995 Edge Dynamics at Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1992 College of Visual Art, Gulbarga
MUSEUM SHOWS / BIENNALES
2019 'Out Time for a Future caring' curated by Roobina Karode, KNMA and NGMA at Venice Biennale 2019
2018 from Ash to Ash, Kochi Muziris Biennale, Kochi
2016 And the last shall be the first: G. R. Iranna, works 1995-2015, National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru,
curated by Ranjit Hoskote
2015 The Eye and the Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art, organised by National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi at Minsheng Art Museum,
Beijing, curated by Prof. Rajeev Lochan
2013 Heritage Transport Museum, curated by Priya Pall, New Delhi
2011 Roots in the Air, Branches Below: Modern & Contemporary Art from India, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose
2011 Crossings: Time Unfolded, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi, curated by Roobina Karode
2011 Melange, The Harrington Street Arts Centre, Kolkata
2011 The Intuitive-Logic Revisited, from Osians Collection at The World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland
2010 Finding India: Art for the New Century, presented by Sakshi Gallery at Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Taipei
2010 Go See India, curated by Amit Mukhopadhyay and Oscar Aschan, Gothenburg, Sweden
2009 Culture Popular India, curated by Shaheen Merali, Mas Presidencia de la Comunidad De Madrid Museum, Madrid
2009 Astonishment of Being, curated by Deeksha Nath, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata
2005 Arad Biennale, Romania
2000 Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Cairo, organized by Indian Embassy in Cairo
2000 Foyer gallery, Wimbledon School of Art, London
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2017 Negotiation in Contested Space Part - I, Conceptualised by Renuka Sawhney at Art Heritage in collaboration with The Guild
2017 The Work of Art: Iteration in Multiples, Fragments and Reflection: Part II at The Guild
2017 Negotiation in Contested Space Part - I, Conceived by Renuka Sawhney at The Guild
2014 Art Chennai by The Guild, Mumbai.
2013 Spell of Spill, The Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi
2013 India Art Fair, The Guild, Mumbai
2012 Art HK 12, The Guild, Mumbai
2012 India Art Fair, The Guild, Mumbai
2011 Giant Elephant - Indian Contemporary Art Exhibition, Gong Art Space, Seoul, Korea
2011 Skin Deep: The Art of Fibreglass, The Viewing Room, Mumbai
2011 Gallery Sumukha, Chennai
2011 Melange, The Harrington Street Arts Centre, Kolkata
2011 Miniscule Marvel, presented by Contemplate at Gallery BMB, Mumbai
2011 The Intuitive: Logic Revisted, from the Osians Collection at The World Economic Forum, 2011 Davos, Switzerland
2011 Art Stage Singapore, Singapore presented by 1 x 1 Gallery, Dubai
2011 Reprise, Aicon Gallery, New York
2010 Art Celebrates 2010, represented by Gallery Threshold at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi to coincide with the hosting of
the Commonwealth Games
2010 Go See India, part of India-Sweden Cultural Exchange Program presented by Emami Chisel, Kolkata at Aakriti Art Gallery,
Kolkata; Vasa Konsthal and Gallery-Scandinavia, Gothenburg
2010 I think therefore graffiti…, The Guild, Mumbai
2010 Art Taipei 2010 The Guild Mumbai
2010 Indian (Sub)Way, curated by Yashodhara Dalmia, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi; Grosvenor Vadehra, London
2010 Tales of Silence, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2010 Singularities, RL Fine Arts, New York
2010 Size Matters or Does it?, Latitude 28, New Delhi
2010 India Rising: Tradition Meets Modernity, presented by Ati Art Gallery at Varya, New Delhi
2009 Retrieval Systems, Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre; Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2009 Astonishment of Being, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata
2009 Think Small, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2009 Harvest 09: Part II, Arushi Arts, New Delhi
2009 New Fables: Contemporary Voices, Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata
2009 India Art Summit, New Delhi, India
2009 Big Dreams, Crimson Art Gallery, Bangalore.
2009 Zip Files, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai.
2009 Moderns and More, Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto.
2009 Life is A Stage, Institute of Contemporary Indian Art (ICIA), Mumbai.
2009 Signs Taken for Wonders: Recent Art from India and Pakistan, Aicon Gallery, London.
2008 Material/Im-mmaterial, Gallery Collection, Bodhi Art, Gurgaon
2008 Keep Drawing, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2008 MiArt Fair 08, Milan, Italy, presented by The Guild, Mumbai
2007 Keep Drawing, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai
2007 India 20, Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2007 High on Art, Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2007 Telling It Like It Is: The Indian Story, The Gallery in Cork Street, London
2007 Asian Contemporary Art Fair, represented by Aicon Gallery, New York
2006 The Human Figure, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi
2006 Contemporary Istanbul Fair, Istanbul
2005 Paths of Progression, Bodhi Art and Saffronart, New Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, New York
2005 We are like this only? by Vadhera art gallery, Delhi.
2005 Change of Address, The Guild, Mumbai.
2004 Gallery 27, at Oslo, Norway
2004 Untitled, by Gallery Espace at Habitat Centre, Delhi
2004 Peter Muller gallery, Munich, Germany
2002 Words and Images, NGMA, Mumbai
2002 Modern and Contemporary Indian Paintings’, Auction-cum-Exhibition, Bowring’s Fine Art Auctioneers, Mumbai
2002 Jehangir Art Gallery Golden Jubilee Show, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2002 European and Modern and Contemporary Indian Paintings, Auction-cum-Exhibition, Bowring’s Fine Art Auctioneers, New Delhi
2001 The Human Factor, The Guild, Mumbai
2001 Palette 2001 & 02 at Visual art gallery, India Habitat Centre, Delhi
2001 Engendering-images of women, The Guild, Mumbai
2001 Kaleidoscope, ISU International Art Gallery, Singapore
2001 Apparao Galleries, Chennai
2000 Black & White, Art Today, Delhi
1999 Icons of The Millennium, Gallery Lakeeren, Mumbai
1999 Edge of the Century, New Delhi
1999 The Cretive Process, by The Guild art gallery, Mumbai
1998 The Guild, Mumbai
1998 Vedanta Art Gallery, Chicago, USA.
1998 Gallery Espace, Delhi
1998 Harmony Show, Nehru Centre, Mumbai
1997 Four Artists, Diverse Talents, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai organized by The Guild art gallery, Mumbai
1995 Schoo’s Gallery. Amsterdam, Holland
AWARDS
2008 ABPF Foundation, Signature Art Prize- Jury Award 2008
2004 Harmony Show, Artist of the Year Award, Mumbai
2003 Residency, George Keyt Foundation, Dambola, Sri Lanka
2002 K. K. Hebbar Foundation award, for 2002
2001 State Award from Karnataka Lalit Kala Akademi, Bangalore
1999 International Scholarship from Charles Wallace India Trust, British Council
1997 40th National Academy Award from Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi
AIFACS Award, Delhi, 50 years of Art in Independent India
1996 National Scholarship from Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India
1995 Garhi Research Grant from Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi
1993 In Search of Talent M.F.Hussain & Ram Kumar selection Award by Vadhera Art Gallery, Delhi
1993 Bansi Parimu Memorial Committee, New Delhi
1993 Delhi College of Art, Delhi
1991-92 College of Visual Art, Gulbarga
1991 All India Fine Arts Exhibition, Gadag
1991-92 All India Exhibition, Mysore Dasara, Mysore
1990 4th All India Exhibition SCZCC, Nagpur
COLLECTION
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
David Robert collection, London
KiranNadar museum, RajshreePathy collection
Singapore Art Museum
Chester & David Hurwitz, USA
SAM Museum, USA
Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal.
Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
Personal collections at Mumbai, Delhi, Hong Kong, Germany, Holland, Austria, Croatia, Paris, Hong Kong, Switzerland & more