Figure, IV, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Diagonal, I, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Interstellar Globe, 2019

Sisters Apart, 2001

The Hungarian Great Plain, 2001

Barricade (with mattress), 2008

Prospect, 2005-2008

Vivan Sundaram (1943-2023) studied painting at M.S. University of Baroda and the Slade School of Art, London. He gravitated from his accomplished practice as a painter in the late 1980s towards working with photography and video, assemblage and installation.

Since 1990 he made installations that include sculpture, photographs and video: Memorial (1993, 2014), in response to communal violence in Bombay, History Project (1998), a monumental site-specific installation at the Victoria Memorial, Calcutta; and continuing work on his family, The Sher-Gil Archive (1995) and Re-take of Amrita (2001–06). A series of exhibitions using found objects include Trash (2008), GAGAWAKA: Making Strange (2011) and Postmortem (2013). He coauthored 409 Ramkinkars (2015) with theatre directors, and Meanings of Failed Action: Insurrection 1946 with a cultural theorist and sound designer. In 2018, a retrospective of Vivan’s work, ‘Step inside and you are no longer a stranger’ was exhibited at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, followed by a survey exhibition, ‘Disjunctures’, curated by Deepak Ananth at Haus der Kunst, Munich (2018); and Install: black gold, terraoptics and the work of termites (2019) PHOTOINK, New Delhi.

Vivan Sundaram was one of 30 artists specially commissioned to make new work to mark the Sharjah Biennial’s 30th anniversary edition, Thinking Historically in the Present. His photography-based project ‘Six Stations of a Life Pursued’ (2023) was exhibited at the Sharjah Biennial 15. His installation ‘Memorial’ was acquired and exhibited at Tate Modern, London (2023).

Sundaram had exhibited widely in India and abroad including in the Biennales of Havana, Johannesburg, Kwangju, Taipei, Sharjah, Shanghai, Sydney, Seville and Berlin, and the Asia-Pacific Triennial, Brisbane. He organized artists’ workshops and seminars at the Kasauli Art Centre from 1976 to 1991; contributed variously to the Journal of Arts & Ideas (1981–99); and curated several exhibitions for the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT). He was a founding member of all these organizations. Vivan Sundaram was the editor of a two-volume book, Amrita Sher-Gil: a self-portrait in letters & writings (2010). He was the managing trustee, with his sister Navina Sundaram, of the Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF), set up in 2016.

Install: terraoptics, black gold and the work of termites

Figure, I, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5

Figure, II, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5

Figure, III, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5

Figure, IV, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 3

Black River, I, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5

Black River, II, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 3

Ring of Fire, I, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

36 × 36 in (91.4 × 91.4 cm)
Ed of 5

Ring of Fire, II, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

36 × 36 in (91.4 × 91.4 cm)
Ed of 5

Red River, I, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5

Red River, II, 2016

from the series, terraoptics

Pigment print

30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5

View More
Trash (2005 - 2008)

Master plan, 2005-2008

Pigment print

56.5 × 198 in (143.5 × 503 cm)
Ed of 10

Barricade (with red beam), 2008

Pigment print

39.5 × 100 in (100 × 254 cm)
Ed of 10

Barricade (with gutter), 2007

Pigment print

39.5 × 119 in (100 × 302 cm)
Ed of 10

Barricade (with two drains), 2008

Pigment print

39.5 × 86.5 in (100 × 220 cm)
Ed of 10

Barricade (with mattress), 2008

Pigment print

38.75 × 67 in (98.5 × 170 cm)
Ed of 10

Barricades (with props), 2008

Pigment print

39.5 × 63.25 in (100 × 160.5 cm)
Ed of 10

Barricade (with glass tower), 2008

Pigment print

39.5 × 79 in (100 × 200.5 cm)
Ed of 10

Reef (with tower), 2008

Pigment print

39.5 × 94.5 in (100 × 240 cm)
Ed of 10

Two Towers, 2008

Pigment print

60 × 38 in (152.5 × 96.5 cm)
Ed of 10

Metal Box, 2008

Pigment print

39.5 × 74.25 in (100 × 188.5 cm)
Ed of 10

Barbed wire, 2008

Pigment print

42.5 × 45.5 in (108 × 115.5 cm)
Ed of 10

Prospect, 2005-2008

Pigment print

104.5 × 59.5 in (265.5 × 143.5 cm)
Ed of 10

Fly, 2008

Pigment print

60 × 39.5 in (152.5 × 100 cm)
Ed of 10

Re-take of Amrita

Piano Duet, 2001

Pigment print

12 × 23.4 in (30.5 × 59.4 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

Party Night, 2001

Pigment print

15 × 23.9 in (38.1 × 60.7 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

Café-talk, 2001

Pigment print

19 × 12.5 in (48.2 × 31.7 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

Malaise, 2001

Pigment print

15 × 20.7 in (38.1 × 52.5 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

Dancing in the Life-class, 2001

Pigment print

15 × 22 in (38.1 × 55.8 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

Presenting Papa, 2001

Pigment print

15 × 12.5 in (38.1 × 31.7 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

Cross-lit, 2001

Pigment print

19 × 14.2 in (48.2 × 36 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

Millstone, 2002

Pigment print

17 × 23.5 in (43.2 × 59.7 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

Father, 2001

Pigment print

15 × 14.5 in (38.1 × 36.8 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

Sisters Apart, 2001

Pigment print

15 × 14.4 in (38.1 × 36.5 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs

View More
Six Stations of a Life Pursued

Untitled, I, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

15.5 × 17 in (39.8 × 43.2 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

Untitled, II, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

15.5 × 17 in (39.8 × 43.2 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

Untitled, III, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

15.5 × 17 in (39.8 × 43.2 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

Untitled, IV, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

39 × 36 in (99.1 × 91.4 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

Untitled, V, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

42 × 38.2 in (106.7 × 97 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

Untitled, VI, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

30 × 30.2 in (76.2 × 76.6 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

Untitled, VII, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

30 × 30.2 in (76.2 × 76.6 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

Untitled, VIII, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

32.8 × 34 in (83.4 × 86.4 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

Untitled, IX, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

32.8 × 34 in (83.4 × 86.4 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

Untitled, X, 2018

From the series, Suture

Pigment print

32.8 × 34 in (83.4 × 86.4 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan

View More