Page 20 - Anjolie Ela Menon - Inner Vision

EXHIBITIONS

& AWARDS

O f the many solo exhibitions held by Anjolie for Visual Arts awarded to her by the Madhya

Menon of her works, notable ones include
Pradesh Government in the year 2018. She was
Bhulabhai Desai Institute in Mumbai (1959);
Blackheath Gallery in the UK (1965); Doma also felicitated with the Limca Book of Records in
2010. Films on the artist’s life have also been made
Khudozhnikov in the USSR (1967); Gallerie Radicke for networks like CNN and Doordarshan.
in Bonn (1982); Winston Gallery in Washington
(1984); Museum Gallery in Hong Kong (1996); Anjolie Ela Menon has time and again, reinvented
Gallery Admit One in New York (2002); Aicon her artistic persona. These deliberate interventions
Gallery in New York (2006); and Asian Art Museum propelled her to emerge as one of India's leading
in San Francisco (2006). She has also had two modernists. A pioneer in several genres in the
major retrospectives held in Jehangir Art Gallery in country, the artist has stuck to her non-conformist
Mumbai (1998) and at the National Gallery of tendencies throughout her illustrious
Modern Art in Mumbai (2000). six-decade-long career without hiding in the
comfort of her clichés. Her unique art style has
Of the various group shows she has participated in, amalgamated the influences of the West, her deep,
prominent ones have taken place in London, personal experiences and the rich heritage and
including the Victoria and Albert Museum, New diverse cultures of the country. Her signature
York, Singapore, Bangkok and Washington. She has technique too - done through layering sombre,
also participated in three triennials in India and translucent colours over time and then burnished
represented the country at the Algiers Biennale with a dry brush to achieve a textured, patina-like
and Sao Paulo Biennale. effect - has cemented her position in Indian art
history. The themes ranging from childhood to
In addition to her work being part of various private perosnal loss to the effects of distance from
and corporate collections, they are also part of family, all continue to have a sense of deep
various permanent collections in prominent sadness and nostalgia - making Menon’s work
museums around the world, including the Asian Art moving, brazen and poignant.
Museum in San Francisco, National Gallery of
Modern Art in New Delhi, Peabody Essex Museum AstaGuru’s book attempts to celebrate the
in Massachusetts, Fukuoka Museum in Japan and massive and ever-evolving oeuvre of the
Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi. exceptional artist and her influence on Indian
modern and contemporary art. Through this book,
In her six-decade-long career, she has been we hope to chronicle her fascinating journey from
conferred with several awards, prominent of which being an avid student of the many arts and
are the Padma Shri in 2000, the Lifetime cultures the world has to offer, her many famed
Achievement Award awarded to her by the Delhi phases in life and as an artist, to becoming a
State Government in 2013 and the Kalidas Samman stalwart in the arts herself.