Bhupen Khakhar

Bhupen Khakhar is remembered as an iconoclast and a free spirit—a man who never did what was expected of him and who openly expressed his views on everything from social sectarianism to his own homosexuality, aspects reflected in his work. Born in 1934, Khakhar began his artistic career relatively late, at the age of 38. At the time, he was working as a chartered accountant, he enrolled at M.S. University of Baroda to study art criticism in his late thirties and began his artistic journey by creating collages from calendar images. He himself noted I was interested in the Expressionist style, which lacked wit and humour. Now I focus more on wit, painting people and the environment around me.

Khakhar achieved international renown as an artist long before gaining recognition in India, thanks to the British artist Howard Hodgkin, who helped him organise a solo exhibition in the late 1970s. Among his sources of inspiration, the painter cited the British artist David Hockney. Like Hockney’s work, Khakhar’s early paintings centred on the ordinary person, trapped in a mundane existence. Khakhar also collaborated with contemporary artists from Baroda, such as Gulammohammed Sheikh, to develop a visual language that combined elements of traditional Indian art with contemporary themes.

The exploration of homosexuality in Khakhar’s work is evident in paintings such as You Can't Please All and Two Men in Benares, leading writer and painter Timothy Hyman to state in his biography of the artist He is arguably the most provocative painter in contemporary Indian art. The artist himself explained I chose homoeroticism as a theme because I am gay. What is happening in India—social rejection—once happened in European countries and the United States. Police have beaten gay men and lesbians in every society, but now they have been accepted by society. To me, there is nothing unnatural about homosexuality.

Critics point out that, during his homoerotic phase, the artistic observations that had made Khakhar a chronicler of ordinary people took a back seat. In contrast, his more recent paintings show greater confidence and maturity than those created during what he describes as his gay period. I feel much lighter now, he states. My personal tensions have been resolved. At 64, you no longer have the feeling that you will live forever. You let go of the ambition to become a great painter and accept who you are. I used to worry constantly about my standing as an artist, he recounts. Khakhar’s later canvases explore the landscapes of Kerala, the dhabas (roadside eateries) of Tamil Nadu, and the religious iconography of everyday life in India.

Khakhar’s paintings are held in various public collections, including that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as in numerous private collections. His works have been exhibited both in India and around the world, recent exhibitions from 2009 include Long Gone & Living Now at Gallerie Mirchandani Steinreucke in Mumbai, Progressive to Altermodern 62 Years of Indian Modern Art at the Grosvenor Gallery in London, Kalpana Figurative Art in India, presented by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at the Aicon Gallery in London, and Shifting Shapes, Unstable Signs at the Yale School of Art in New Haven. Other posthumous exhibitions featuring the artist's work include Multiple Modernities India, 1905-2005 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2008), and Expanding Horizons Contemporary Indian Art, presented by Bodhi Art in eight cities across Maharashtra (2008–2009), India Art Now Between Continuity and Transformation in Milan (2007–2008), Horn Please Narratives in Contemporary Indian Art at the Kunstmuseum Bern (2007), and Inventing/Inverting Traditions at Grosvenor Vadehra, London (2006–2007). Solo exhibitions of the artist's work include a retrospective organized by Fine Art Resource at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Mumbai in 2003, as well as shows at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2002), Optica Gallery (Montreal) and Charles H. Scott Gallery (Vancouver) between 2001 and 2002, Fine Art Resource (Berlin, 1998), Gate Foundation (Amsterdam, 1998), Gallery Ka-Eins (Frankfurt, 1993), Gallery Chemould (Mumbai, 1991), Gallery Watari (Tokyo, 1986), Knoedler Gallery (London, 1983), Hester van Royen Gallery (London, 1979), and Jehangir Art Gallery (Mumbai, 1965). The artist was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1984.

Bhupen Khakhar passed away in 2003.

BORN

March 10, 1934, Bombay (Mumbai)

DIED

August 8, 2003, Vadodara

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1964 Master of Arts (Art Criticism), Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

1956 Bachelor of Commerce, University of Bombay, qualification as a certified public accountant (Chartered Accountant)

1954 Bachelor of Arts, Bombay University, Bombay

SELECTED POSTHUMOUS EXHIBITIONS

2016-17 Bhupen Khakhar You Can't Please All, Tate Modern (London) and Deutsche Bank KunstHalle (Berlin)

2016 Many Facets of an Artist Collections from the Bhupen Khakhar Estate, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi

2015 Remembering Bhupen, Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara

2014 Bhupen Khakhar From the Archive – Paintings and Prints, Swaraj Art Archive, New Delhi

2013 Grosvenor Gallery, London

2012 Aqua, Gallery Beyond, Mumbai

2012 The Calendar Project Iconography in the 20th Century (part of the CINEMA CITY Research, Art & Documentary Practices project, presented by the National Gallery of Modern Art [NGMA] and the Ministry of Culture, Government of India at the NGMA, Mumbai)

2012 Crossings Time Unfolded (Part 2), Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2011-12 Modernist Art from India The Body Unbound, Rubin Museum of Art, New York

2011 Ethos V Indian Art Through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore

2011 Masters Ltd Limited Editions, Gallery Beyond, Mumbai

2011 Anecdotes, Sakshi Gallery, Bombay

2011 Watermark II, Galerie Mirchandani  Steinruecke, Bombay

2011 High-Light (presented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, at The Oberoi, Gurgaon)

2011 Manifestations V, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2011 Narrations, Quotations & Commentaries, Grosvenor Gallery London

2011 Time Unfolded, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2011 Of Humour, Wit & Satire, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2010 Orientations Trajectories in Indian Art, Foundation De 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg, Belgium

2010 Summer Show 2010, Center of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2009 Marvelous Reality, Gallery Espace 20th Anniversary Celebration at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2009 Long Gone & Living Now, Gallerie Mirchandani Steinreucke, Mumbai

2009 Progressive to Altermodern 62 Years of Indian Modern Art, Grosvenor Gallery, London

2009 Kalpana Figurative Art in India, presented by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at Aicon Gallery, London

2009 Shifting Shapes, Unstable Signs, Yale School of Art, Connecticut, USA.

2008-09 Body Chatter An Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art, Walsh Gallery, Chicago

2008-09 Modern India, organized by the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) and Casa Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, in Valencia, Spain

2008-09 Expanding Horizons Contemporary Indian Art, traveling exhibition presented by Bodhi Art at Ravinder Natya Mandir (P.L. Deshpande Kala Academy Art Gallery), Mumbai, Sant Dyaneshwar Natya Sankul Art Gallery, Amravati, Platinum Jubilee Hall, Nagpur, Tapadia Natya Mandir Sports Hall, Aurangabad, Hirachand Nemchand Vachanalaya, Solapur, Acharya Vidyanand Sanskrutik Bhavan, Kolhapur, PGSR Sabhagriha (SNDT), Pune, Sarvajanik Vachanalaya Hall, Nasik

2008 Moderns, Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan, organized by the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, in collaboration with the Embassy of India in Amman, Jordan

2008 Multiple Modernities India, 1905–2005, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA

2007–08 India Art Now Between Continuity and Transformation, Province of Milan, Milan, Italy

2007 Horn Please Narratives in Contemporary Indian Art, Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland

2006–07 Inventing/Inverting Traditions, Grosvenor Vadehra, London

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2003 A Retrospective, organized by The Fine Art Resource (Mumbai) at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai

2003 Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda

2002 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2002 Bhupen Khakhar, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, touring to The Lowry, Manchester

2001–02 Optica Gallery, Montreal, Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver

1998 The Fine Art Resource, Berlin, The Gate Foundation, Amsterdam

1997 Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1995 Kapil Jariwala Gallery, London

1993 Gallery Ka-Eins, Frankfurt

1993 The Spirit of India, Galerie Nouvelles Images, The Hague

1992 Galerie Schoo, Foundation for Indian Artists, Amsterdam

1991, 94 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai

1986 Gallery Watari, Tokyo

1985 Kanoria Center for Arts/Hutheesingh Visual Arts Centre, Ahmedabad

1983 Knoedler Gallery, London

1983 Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad

1983 Urja Art Gallery, Baroda

1979 Anthony Stokes Gallery, London

1979 Hester van Royen Gallery, London

1972, 81 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai

1967, 70 Kunika Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi

1965 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2003 Sub Terrain Artworks in the City Fold, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin

2002 Telling Tales Narrative Impulses in Recent Art, Tate Liverpool

2001 Century City Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis, Tate Modern, London

2001 Abbild Recent Portraiture and Depiction, Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria

2000 A Global View Indian Artists at Home in the World, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay

1998 Private Mythology Contemporary Art from India, The Japan Foundation, Tokyo

1997 Indian Contemporary Art - Post Independence, organised by Vadehra Gallery (Delhi), National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi

1997 Colours of Independence, organised by the Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA, Calcutta), National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi

1997 Tryst with Destiny, organised by the Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA, Calcutta), Singapore Art Museum

1996 Contemporary Art in Asia Traditions/Tensions, Asia Society, New York

1996 Watercolours A Broader Spectrum III, Gallery Chemould, Bombay

1995 100 Years From the NGMA Collection, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Bombay

1995 The Other Self (Exhibition of Indian and Dutch Artists), National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi / Stedelijk Museum Bureau, Amsterdam (1995-96)

1993 India Songs Multiple Streams in Contemporary Indian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1993 A Critical Difference Contemporary Art from India, touring exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, UK

1993 Trends and Images, Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Calcutta

1992 Journeys within Landscapes, organised by Sakshi Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay

1990 Ambassadors' Choice (Contemporary Indian art from the collection of H.E. Mrs E. M. Schoo, Netherlands), National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi

1989 The Richness of the Spirit Selection from Contemporary Figurative Indian Art, Kuwait Museum, Egyptian Academy, Rome

1989 Open Mind, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent

1989 Artists Alert, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi

1989 Timeless Art, Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Bombay (Mumbai), Sotheby's auction

1987 Coups de Cœur, Halle Sud, Geneva

1986 Contemporary Indian Artists, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

1985 East-West Encounter, exhibition and symposium, Jehangir Art Gallery, Max Mueller Bhavan, and National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Bombay (Mumbai)

1982 Contemporary Indian Art, Festival of India, Royal Academy of Arts, London

1982 Six Indian Painters, Tate Gallery, London

1982 Contemporary Indian Art, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.

1981 Place for People, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay (Mumbai) and Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi

1979 Narrative Paintings Figurative Art of Two Generations, ICA, Bristol and London

1979 Focus 4 Painters, 4 Directions, Gallery Chemould, Bombay (Mumbai)

1978 Six Who Declined to Show at the Triennale, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi

1977 Pictorial Space, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1975 Inaugural exhibition, Black Partridge Art Gallery, New Delhi

1974 Group exhibition with nine other artists, Rabindra Bhavan galleries, New Delhi

1972 Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay (Mumbai)

1969 Art Today I and II, Kunika Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi

1969 Indian Painters 69, organised by Max Mueller Bhavan, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta (Kolkata)

1967 Seven Painters, Gallery One, London

1965 Art Now in India, Royal Festival Hall, London, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle

1963 Inaugural Exhibition, Gallery Chemould, Bombay (Mumbai)

SELECTED JOINT EXHIBITIONS

2002 Contemporary Indian Art Gulammohammed Sheikh, Bhupen Khakhar, Walsh Gallery, Chicago

1989 Splash Images on Glass, with Nalani Malani and Vivan Sundaram, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai

PARTICIPATIONS

2000 Gwangju Biennale, South Korea

1992 Documenta IX, Kassel, Germany

1984 XV International Art Exhibition, Tokyo Biennale, Tokyo

1978 Menton Biennale, France

1975 3rd Triennale India, New Delhi

1972 2nd Triennale India, New Delhi

1969 Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil

1968 1st Triennale India, New Delhi

HONORS AND AWARDS

1986 Starr Fellowship, Asian Cultural Council, New York

1984 Padma Shri, Government of India