Alwar Balasubramaniam

Indian artist (born 1971)

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)

A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance. (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

Alwar Balasubramaniam

Born| 1971 (age 53-54)

Tamil Nadu, India

Nationality| Indian

Alwar Balasubramaniam (Tamil: ஆழ்வார் பாலசுப்ரமணியம், Hindi: अलवर बालासुब्रमण्यम, born c. 1971) professionally known as Bala, is an Indian artist who makes sculptures, paintings, and printmaking.[1]

## Early life and education

[edit]

Bala was born in Tamil Nadu, India. In 1995, he obtained a BFA from the Government College of Arts in Chennai, specializing in printmaking. Later, he continued his studies in prints and paintings at the Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop (EPW) and the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. He resided at the MacDowell Colony in Massachusetts in the early 2000s and transitioned into sculpture and installation work after that.[2]

## Career

[edit]

In 2002, Bala held his inaugural solo exhibition in the United States at the Talwar Gallery in New York City.[3] The exhibition included sculptures crafted from casts of his own body, monoprints, and a heat-sensitive artwork that unveiled itself under specific temperatures. Bala has also exhibited his work at the Talwar Gallery in both New York and in New Delhi.[2] His other exhibitions include Skin[3] at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C.[4] He has also participated in group exhibitions including the 50th Anniversary of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, named Contemplating the Void in 2010,[5] and On Line at the Museum of Modern Art in New York between 2010 and 2011.[6]

Bala's works have been exhibited in museums, art festivals, and galleries worldwide, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), New York, NY;[7] The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY;[8] The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC;[9] Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY;[5] Mori Art Museum, Japan;[10] Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi, India;[11] Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington;[12] Essl Museum, Austria;[13] The 1st Singapore Biennale;[14] École des Beaux Arts, Paris, France;[15] and the 18th Biennale of Sydney, Australia.[16] Bala has been a guest lecturer in the Art Department at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and a speaker at TED.[17]

Hold Nothing (2012) at The Phillips Collection in 2022 Body as Shell (2011-2015) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2022

Bala's artistic focus centers on the human body and its interaction with the material environment, particularly emphasizing intangible elements such as light, air, and shadow.[18]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Alwar Balasubramaniam: by Zehra Jumabhoy". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
2. ^ a b "Alwar Balasubramaniam - Artists - Talwar Gallery". www.talwargallery.com. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
3. ^ a b "Alwar Balasubramaniam – Exhibitions – Talwar Gallery". talwargallery. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
4. ^ "A. Balasubramaniam". phillipscollection. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
5. ^ a b "Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum". Guggenheim. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2019.[failed verification]
6. ^ "On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
7. ^ "Body as Shell". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
8. ^ "ON LINE: DRAWING THROUGH THE TWENTIETH CENTURY". Talwar Gallery. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
9. ^ "INTERSECTIONS: A. BALASUBRAMANIAM". The Phillips Collection. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
10. ^ "MORI ART MUSEUM [Chalo! India]". Mori Art Museum. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
11. ^ "narrating from the museum archives and collection: TEN YEARS OF KNMA". Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
12. ^ "CITY DWELLERS: CONTEMPORARY ART FROM INDIA". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
13. ^ "Home". sammlung-essl. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
14. ^ "Singapore Biennale (Singapore)". Biennial Foundation. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
15. ^ "École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts". beauxartsparis France. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
16. ^ "Biennale of Sydney". Biennale of Sydney. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
17. ^ "TED INDIA: Alwar Balasubramaniam: Art of Substance and Absence". Talwar Gallery. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
18. ^ Brienne Walsh, "Alwar Balasubramaniam," Modern Painters, November 2012.

## External links

[edit]

* Sculpture Magazine, July 2019
* Artforum, "Alwar Balasubramaniam," September 2018
* Artforum, "Critics Pick: Alwar Balasubramaniam," May 2016
* Art Asia Pacific, "Layers of Wind, Lines of Time," May 2015
* "A. Balasubramaniam Profile,Interview and Artworks"
* TEDIndia, "Alwar Balasubramaniam: Art of substance and absence", September 2010
* MoMA, Behind the Scenes: On Line, A. Balasubramaniam
* New York Times Review, On Line, MoMA, December 2011
* A. Balasubramaniam is represented by Talwar Gallery,
* A. Balasubramaniam on artnet
* Time Out New Delhi
* New York Times – (Desi)re
* New York Times Review – May 2002

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Israel

Artists|

* RKD Artists
* KulturNav
* Museum of Modern Art

Other|

* SNAC

*[c.]: circa