Alwar Balasubramaniam

Bala
Born
Alwar Balasubramaniam

1971 (age 54–55)
Tamil Nadu, India
Education
Children1

Alwar Balasubramaniam (Tamil: ஆழ்வார் பாலசுப்ரமணியம், Hindi: अलवर बालासुब्रमण्यम, born 1971), known professionally as Bala, is an Indian sculptor and artist.[1][2]

Biography

Alwar Balasubramaniam was born in 1971, in Tamil Nadu. In 1995, Bala graduated from Government College of Fine Arts with a specialism in printmaking.[3] Bala continued his studies at the Edinburgh Printmakers and the University of Applied Arts Vienna.[3]

From 1998 – 2015 Bala lived and worked in Bengaluru, Karnataka.[3] As of 2015, Bala lives and works in his ancestral village outside of Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu.[3][4]

Bala is known for embedding sculptures in walls. [5] Bala's work centers on the human body and the body's interaction with the material environment and intangible elements such as light, air, and shadow.[6] In 1998, Bala was an artist-in-residence at the then MacDowell Colony, and worked in the Putnam graphics studio.[7][8] Bala was also part of the UNESCO Aschberg Bursaries for Artists for Residency program in Vienna, Austria a year later, and was a featured speaker at TEDIndia in 2009.[9][10]

His work has since been exhibited by major institutions such as the Mori Art Museum; the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA); the Seattle Art Museum; the Lalbhai Museum in Ahmedabad, India; and the Essl Museum in Vienna[11]. Notable solo and group exhibitions include Afterlives: Contemporary Art in the Byzantine Crypt at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) (January 2024 - January 2027),[12] Seeing Differently: The Phillips Collects for a New Century at The Phillips Collection (March - September 2021),[13] On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (November 2010 - February 2011),[14] Beyond the Self: Contemporary Portraiture from Asia at Australia's National Portrait Gallery (August - November 2011),[15] Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum at the Guggenheim Museum (February - April 2010),[16] and Indian Summer at the École des Beaux Arts (October - December 2005).[17]

Bala's art has also been presented in international exhibitions such as the 1st Singapore Biennale and the 18th Sydney Biennale.[18][19] In February 2026, he was selected as one of five artists at the 61st Venice Biennale’s India Pavilion, presenting Drift (2026) and Not just for us (2026).[20][21]

References

  1. ↑ Jumabhoy, Zehra (2011). "Alwar Balasubramaniam by Zehra Jumabhoy". National Portrait Gallery. Canberra. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  2. ↑ Union List of Artist Names (2010). "Balasubramaniam, A. (Indian sculptor, 1971-)". Getty Research. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Trust. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Talwar, Deepak (2024). "Alwar Balasubramaniam Biography" (PDF). Talwar Gallery. New York. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  4. ↑ Desai Gehi, Reema (2025). "Building Beyond Boundaries : Nature as Canvas". ART India. 27 (3).
  5. ↑ Nath, Deeksha (2012). "'Do you know what you see?' The art of A. Balasubramaniam". Harper's Bazaar India.
  6. ↑ Walsh, Brienne (2012). "Alwar Balasubramaniam". Modern Painters.
  7. ↑ Talwar Gallery (2025). "Alwar Balasubramaniam". Talwar Gallery. New York, New Delhi. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  8. ↑ MacDowell. "VISUAL ART : Alwar Bala". MacDowell. Peterborough. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  9. ↑ "Alwar Balasubramaniam". Khoj Studios. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  10. ↑ Balasubramaniam, Alwar (8 September 2010). Art of substance and absence. Retrieved 9 July 2026 – via www.ted.com.
  11. ↑ "Alwar Balasubramaniam". Khoj Studios. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Afterlives: Contemporary Art in the Byzantine Crypt - The Metropolitan Museum of Art". www.metmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 12 April 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "Seeing Differently: The Phillips Collects for a New Century | The Phillips Collection". www.phillipscollection.org. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  14. ↑ "On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "Beyond the Self: Contemporary Portraiture from Asia". National Portrait Gallery exhibition. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum". The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  17. ↑ Solignac, Lucie (12 January 2008). "Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts : Indian Summer". Paris Art (in French). Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  18. ↑ "Singapore Biennial 2006 at Singapore Biennale Singapore - Artmap.com". artmap.com. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  19. ↑ 18th Bienniale of Sydney Exhibition Report. 2012. p. 62.
  20. ↑ McGrath, Katherine (4 February 2026). "India announces 5 artists for its first Venice Biennale pavilion in 7 years". Artsy. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  21. ↑ "Artist | Alwar Balasubramaniam | National Pavilion of India 2026". indiainvenice.com. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.