"My art is more like a researcher`s project who uses quotes rather than an essay, with each painting necessitating a bibliography" --- Jitish Kallat. Jitish Kallat is considered one of the most sought-after contemporary Indian artists. He is obsessive about using self references in his paintings, that portrays himself, his wife, and other members of his family. These self-images of his creations are very much autobiographical. Sometimes the autobiography refers to personal relations also.
Sometimes Jitish Kallat`s painting appear monumental. The methods adopted by Kallat can be regarded quite frugal, somewhat abstract form of a narrative. As he says about the source of his work, `any visual material relevant to me. Images of the print media are photocopied, transferred on to the surface, hence `real`, as against the painted, which is fictional`. A heavy reliance on photography can be found in his methodology. Jitish Kallat`s creations sometimes appear as a picture puzzle, expected to be decoded by the viewers, who then lend a conclusion.
Jitish Kallat creates his work by developing many layers of paint and collage. After this it is allowed to dry. The layers of the painting is peeled away to create the imaging of the paintings. His paintings often intricate a sense of humour. Jitish Kallat did his Bachelor of Arts in painting from Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1996. He has also worked as a Fellow in the institution.
Throughout his artistic career he has exhibited his paintings in many solo exhibitions as well as has taken part in many group exhibitions. Some of them held in 2007 include- `Rickshawpolis`, in Gallery Barry Keldoulis, Sydney; in 2006 `Rickshawpolis`, Spazio Piazza Sempione, in Milan; in 2005 `Rickshawpolis`, Nature Morte, in New Delhi; in 2005 `Panic Acid`, Bodhi Art Gallery, in Singapore; in 2005 `Humiliation Tax`, Gallery Chemould, in Mumbai; in 2004 `The Lie Of The Land`, Walsh Gallery, in Chicago; in 2004 `FAQ`, Art Rotterdam, represented by Willem Baars Art Consultancy, in Holland; in 2002 `First Information Report`, Bose Pacia, in New York; in 2001 `Milk Route`, India Habitat Centre, in New Delhi; in 2001 `General Essential`, Sakshi Gallery, in Bangalore; in 2000 `Ibid.`, Gallery Chemould, in Mumbai; in 1999 `Private limited-I`, Bose Pacia, in New York; in 1999 `Private limited-II`, Apparao Gallery, Chennai; in 1998 `Apostrophe`, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; in 1997 `P.T.O.`, Gallery Chemould, Prithvi Gallery and The Garret, Mumbai.
Some group exhibitions of Jitish Kallat are-- in 2006 `Another Worlds`, Arario Gallery, Cheonan, Korea; in 2005 `Indian Summer`, Ecole Nationale Suprieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris; in 2005 `The Artist Lives and Works in Baroda/Bombay/Calcutta/Mysore/ Rotterdam/ Trivandrum`, House of World Culture, Berlin; in 2005 `Paths of Progression`, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore; in 2005 `Mom and Pop Art`, Walsh Gallery, Chicago; in 2005 `The Armory Show`, represented by Nature Morte, New York; in 2005` International Painting`, Gallery GBK, Sydney; in 2005 Kunst En Oorlod, Kunst en Cultuur Noord-Holland; in 2004 `The Sacrifice - An Intimate I`, Collection of Henri Swagemakers, Museum De Beyerd, Holland; in 2004 `Contemporary Art from India`, Thomas Erben
Gallery, New York; in 2004 `Summer Show`, Bose Pacia Gallery, New York; in 2004 `Art Chicago`, Presented by Walsh Gallery, Chicago; in 2004 `Masala`, William Benton Museum, University of Connecticut; in 2004`Zoom! Art in Contemporary India`, Culturgest Museum, Lisbon; in 2003 `Sub Terrain: artists dig the contemporary`, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; in 2003 `Drawing Conclusions`, International exhibitions of artist-writers, New York Arts Gallery; in 2003 `Pictorial Transformations`, National Art Gallery, Malaysia; in 2003 `Urban Graffiti`, Woolff Gallery, London; in 2003 `Crossing generations:
diVERGE`, Gallery Chemoulds 40th anniversary, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai; in 2003 `Indians + Cowboys`, Gallery 4a, Sydney; in 2003 `The Tree from the Seed`, Henie Onstad Kultursenter, Hovikodden, Norway; in 2003 `Arco 2003`, Madrid, Spain; in 2002`India: Contemporary Art from Northeastern Private Collection`, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Jersey; in 2002 `Navarasa`, India Habitat Center, New Delhi; in 2002 `Perspecta`, organised by Gallery 88, Rossi and Rossi Gallery, London; in 2002 `Clicking into Place`, Organized by Japan Foundation at the Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai; in 2002 `Cinema Still`, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; in 2002 `Mela`, an R.P.G. Enterprises show, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; in 2001 `Century City`, Tate Modern, London; in 2001 `Indian Painting`, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; in 2001` Indian Contemporary Fine Arts`, presented by Saffronarts.com, Seven Degrees, California, USA; in 2001 `New Works`, Gallerie 88, Kolkata and Gallery Sumukha,
Bangalore; in 2001 `Finding the Margins at the Center`, presented by Apparao Galleries, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi; in 2000 `Indian Artists at Home in the World`, presented by The Fine Art Resource, Jehangir Art Gallery,Mumbai; in 2000 Exhibition of the Final Nominees for the Sotheby`s Prize, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai; in 2000 `The Southern Paradigm`, Lakeeren, Mumbai; in the years 2000-`99-`98 Kunstrai, International Art Fair, Represented by Willem Baars Gallery, Amsterdam; in 2000 `Family Resemblances`, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai; in 2000 `The Mumbai Metaphor`, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai; in 2000 `Intersections`, Guild Art Gallery, Artists Centre, Mumbai; in 1999 `Embarkations`, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai; in 1999 `Icons of the Millennium`, Lakeeren, Mumbai; in 1999 `Legatee-The J. J. School of Art`, The Fine Art Company, Mumbai; in 1999 `Young Artists`, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai; in 1999 Nature Morte, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney, Australia; in 1998 Beaux Arts Magazine`s International Exhibition Art of the World 1998, Paris; in 1998 `Multi Media Art of 90`s`, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA )Gallery, Kolkata; in 1998
`Cryptograms`, Lakeeren, Mumbai; in 1998 Jehangir Nicholson Collection, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai; in 1998 The Wilberding Collection, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai; in the year 1998 `SPIN`, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai; in 1998 `Indian Contemporary Art`, The R.P.G. Collection, Leverkusen and Monheim, Germany; in 1998 `Artists for a Sustainable World`, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai; in 1997 Projektgruppe Stoffwechsel`s Innenseite, Kassel, Germany; in 1997 `50 years of Art in Mumbai`,
National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai; in 1997 `50 years of Freedom of Expression`, R.P.G. Enterprises, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; in 1997-96 Harmony Show, Nehru Centre, Mumbai; in 1996 `Miniature Format Show`, Sans Tache, Mumbai. All these aforesaid exhibitions earned him appreciation of international standards.
As acknowledgment to his talent, Jitish Kallat has been conferred accolades like-- First Prize by Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, 1996; K.K. Hebbar Art Foundation Award in 1996; Awarded Fellowship by Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, for the years 1996-97; Sanskriti Award in 2001; Indo-American Society`s `Young Achiever Award` in the same year; Harmony Award in 2002; Young Achiever Award, Provogue-Society, 2003.
