Here After Here 1992-2017- Jitish Kallat

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Foreword I am delighted to share that it is indeed a proud moment for me to take charge as the first Director General of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), India's premier national institution devoted to modern and contemporary visual art practices. This role comes with a major sense of responsibility towards this pioneering institution, the artist community in India and abroad and towards the citizens of this deeply-rooted and diverse country.

The iconic work of modern masters that the NGMA in New Delhi, along with its two branches in Mumbai and Bangalore, houses and exhibits inspire us to celebrate each day and we want to spread this joy of pure passion, insight and hard work with each one visiting the NGMA.

The works of art from our collection facilitate us to embark on new journeys and serve as a fertile ground for new contemporary practices. In this spirit I am happy that at the beginning of my tenure at this institution we are organizing the solo exhibition of Jitish Kallat, well- known Indian artist who has achieved wide international recognition for his work.

While Jitish Kallat's diverse artistic practice draws upon contemporary methods and pictorial languages, his works capture .the tempo and texture of the Indian street or the mysteries of our existence by pointing to natural rhythms, life-cycles or celestial formations. His engagement with Indian philosophical thought is evident by the manner in which he structures his complex image-metaphors from forms we encounter every day. In some of his large paintings for instance a single portrait might be composed of numerous other beings and narratives, or the everyday meal might point to energy sources that reside in the sky.

To my friends and visitors from overseas, I welcome you more than ever to join us in celebrating this rich legacy and I firmly believe in broadening the institution's horizon. I look forward to collaborations and partnerships with international institutions and will explore all possibilities for extension of cultural relations. I am certain that this would enable NGMA to present Indian art and artists to a wider global audience.

I would like to express appreciation to the Director and staff of the NGMA, New Delhi for organizing this exhibition. I thank the Ministry of Culture for supporting our endeavors.

Introduction National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, and (NGMA) is pleased to organize an in-depth exhibition of Jitish Kallat's works encompassing more than two decades of his practice. Titled Here After Here, this major solo exhibition brings together a comprehensive selection of the artist's works that traces its conceptual and thematic development dating back to his days at the Sir J.J. School of Art in the early nineties. These older works co-habit a larger conversation set up by some of his most important and widely exhibited works such as Epilogue, Covering Letter, the trilogy of Public Notice works, Aquasaurus and Circa amongst others. Many of these works have been the subject of his solo exhibitions at major international museums. These large projects will be drawn together for the very first time under one roof at the NGMA, and many of these works have never been seen in Delhi before.

Born in Mumbai, Jitish Kallat is one of India's leading contemporary artists whose wide- ranging body of work encompasses drawings, paintings, photography, video, sculpture and installation. Kallat's work has often been described as investigations into the fundamental themes of existence, interweaving the autobiographical, the everyday, the historical and the celestial. This publication, accompanying Here After Here is an anthology of essays, excerpts and interviews presenting a diversity of perspectives on Kallat's works from the last two decades.

I am truly delighted that the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, has organized this exhibition, which is the most thorough survey of the artist's work till date. I would like to express my sincere gratitude t? the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for their unstinted support. I also wish to express heartfelt thanks to Shri Adwaita Gadanayak, Director General, NGMA, for his guidance. I acknowledge the generous contribution of the private and institutional collectors for lending the works of art from their prestigious collection for this exhibition. My sincere congratulations go to the curator of this exhibition Ms. Catherine David and to Mr. Jitish Kallat for-their commitment to this exhibition. I also acknowledge the efforts of the entire team at NGMA, New Delhi in the successful realization of this exhibition.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages