Born in 1974 in Mumbai, where he lives and works, Jitish Kallat is one of India’s leading contemporary artists. His wide-ranging practice, 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 archaeology, the artist takes an ironic and poetic look at the altered relationship between nature and culture. Kallat received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Sir J.J.School of Art, Mumbai (1996). Kallat has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including “Order of Magnitude” at the Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai (2022); “Epicycles,” a survey at Norrtalje Konsthall, Sweden (2021); and “Return to Sender” at the Frist Art Museum, Nashville (2020). In 2017, The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, mounted “Here After Here,” a major retrospective of Kallat’s work, which received the India Today Award for Best Solo Exhibition of the Year. The first United States presentation of Covering Letter, 2012, an immersive installation and video projection, was held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2016-17). It was also exhibited as part of the Indian Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale. Prior to this, the first major presentation of his work in an American museum was Public Notice 3 at the Art Institute of Chicago (2010-11). In 2014, Kallat curated the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India. Other solo exhibitions include Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2015); Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne (2012); the Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai (2011); the Art Institute of Chicago (2010-11); and Haunch of Venison, London (2010). He has participated in many major Indian art exhibitions, including the Arken Museum, Ishoj, Denmark (2012-13); MAXXI, Rome (2012) and Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon (2011); Saatchi Gallery, London (2010); Essl Museum – Contemporary Art, Klosterneuburg, Austria and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2009), as well as the Serpentine Gallery, London (2008-09); Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2008); Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2007) and Tate Modern, London (2001). His work is owned by public and private collections worldwide, including the Art Institute of Chicago; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; M+ Collection, Hong Kong; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

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