G. R. Iranna

In nature, everything is equal. G. R. Iranna’s perspective on nature offers a counterpoint with which to observe the passage of time and the repeating cycles of the world as seen from a very human point of view.  

In his choice of unusual artistic medium, the artist questions the arbitrariness with which priorities are shaped in human society, and the fear of loss they circumscribe. The play of gold and ash becomes a dual reminder: of value, and its impermanence.

G. R. Iranna was born in Sindhgi, Bijapur, Karnataka, 1970. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the College of Visual Art, Gulbarga, 1992, and a Master’s Degree with specialization in Painting from the College of Art, New Delhi, 1994. Iranna was awarded the Charles Wallace Scholarship by the British Council in 1999 and was an artist-in-residence at the Wimbledon School of Art, London. Over the years, he has received many awards including the ABPF Foundation, Signature Art Prize, Singapore; the K. K. Hebbar Foundation Award; In Search of Talent, M. F. Husain and Ram Kumar Selection Award; and the National Academy Award 1998 from Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.   

Iranna’s museum and institutional shows include Jana Shakti, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, 2023; the 2019 Venice Biennale, curated by Roobina Karode and presented by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Modern Art; the 2018 Kochi-Muziris Biennale, curated by Sudarshan Shetty; And the Last Shall Be the First: G. R. Iranna Works 1995-2015, curated by Ranjit Hoskote, National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru in collaboration with The Guild, 2016; The Eye and the Mind: New Interventions in Indian Art, curated by Prof. Rajeev Lochan and organised by the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, at the Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China, 2015; Continuing Traditions: Les Traditions Perpétuelles, Musée Municipal de la toile de Jouy, Paris, 2015; The Heritage Transport Museum, New Delhi, curated by Priya Pall, 2011; Roots in the Air, Branches Below: Modern & Contemporary Art from India, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California, USA, 2011; Crossings: Time Unfolded, curated by Roobina Karode, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, 2011; The Intuitive - Logic Revisited - From the Osian’s Collection at The World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, 2011.

Iranna’s solo shows include Boodi, Gallery Espace, New Delhi, 2021; The Primordial Ash, Aicon Gallery, New York, 2017; Ether Is All That Is, Gallery Espace, New Delhi, 2017; Tempered Branches, Aicon Gallery, New York, 2014; Limning Heterotopias: A Journey into G. R. Iranna’s Shadows of the In Between, Gallery Espace, New Delhi, 2012; Scaffolding the Absent, The Guild, Mumbai, 2011; Ribbed Routes, The Guild, Mumbai, 2010; Birth of Blindness, The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi, 2008; The Dancer on the Horse, Berkeley Square Gallery, London, UK, 2007.