Mohan Samant Centenary Celebration
KNMA, Saket presents a star studded event on 24th September 2024 from 7:30 PM onwards celebrating Mohan Samant’s Centenary. The show begins with an introduction by Roobina Karode, Director, Chief Curator KNMA, followed by a lecture by Kishore Singh on Mohan Samant’s Life & Artistic Practice. The show will conclude with a sarangi recital by virtuso Murad Ali Khan.
Magic in the Square – Mohan Samant, Centennial Exhibition, is a crisp exploration of Samant’s practice, which is also a tribute to the artist. Mohan Samant excavates sedimented memory, fossil-like forms and totemic imagery from his sand, dust and gravel layers -raising cut-outs from the primary surface, thus giving his paintings a three-dimensional effect. They are neither relief nor flat, this in-betweenness, perhaps is an adroit extension of his skills as a Sarangi player. The abstract nuance of classical music is translated in a subtle daintiness on his canvases.
About Mohan Samant
Mohan Samant (1924-2004) was a pioneering modernist artist known for his innovative use of materials and multidimensional painting approaches. Trained at the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai, he blended ancient symbolism with modern techniques, creating layered compositions that combined elements of painting, sculpture, and music. Internationally acclaimed, his work was exhibited in major galleries across India and abroad, cementing his legacy as a key figure in Indian contemporary art.
About Kishore Singh
Kishore Singh is a columnist, editor and writer with experience in journalism and publishing. He is also an art writer and curator. He heads Exhibitions & Publications at DAG
About Murad Ali Khan
Born in a family of musicians originally from Moradabad, Murad Ali is a sixth generation sarangi player. The intensive training he had under his grandfather Ustad Siddique Ahmad Khan and father Ustad Ghulam Sabir Khan has stood him in good stead, and he is presently regarded as one of the leading sarangi players of the younger generation. His ancestors were all renowned sarangi players, musicologists and gurus of the Moradabad Gharana.
About Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) opened its doors to the public in January 2010. It is a pioneering private museum of Modern and Contemporary art in South Asia, with two spaces located in New Delhi and Noida. It is a not-for-profit institution with an extensive and creative engagement with exhibition-making, educational and public-focused programs, and publications. The museum houses a growing collection of more than 10,000 artworks from South Asia, with a focus on the historical trajectories of 20th-century Indian art, alongside the experimental practices of young contemporaries.
Image Courtesy – KNMA
