Bharti Kher was born in 1969 in London, UK and has lived in New Delhi, India, since 1993. She studied painting, graduating in 1991 from Newcastle Polytechnic. In 1992 she travelled to India, deciding to live there permanently. Kher's practice is radically heterogeneous, encompassing painting, sculpture and installation. Overarching themes within her work include the premise of the self as multiple. This interlocking link that human, animal and matter create, lead to works that are hybrid in nature and material. She allows both abstraction and figuration to weave through her practice and exploits the drama inherent in objects, tapping into mythologies and the numerous diverse associations a thing or place can carry.
At the center of Kher’s practice are her sculptures, early examples of which featured fantastical hybrid characters, blurring the distinctions between humans and nature, ecology and politics. In line with this early practice, Kher continues to assemble, juxtapose and transform found objects that are witness to their own histories. Wooden wheels and architectural remnants, mannequin body casts and pillars all clash in mis-en-scenes of dystopia and grand orchestration. These elements are assembled in a hazardous manner; suspended from the ceiling, hanging from ropes, propped up and held from falling with the help of counterweights and balances; ultimately forming a heterogeneous narrative in which Kher further explores the artistic strategy of stripping objects of their meaning and making them open to other interpretation and magic, creating works that defy location and place. The use of found objects is informed by her own position as an artist located between geographic and social milieus. Her way of working is exploratory: surveying, looking, collecting, and transforming, as she repositions the viewer’s relationship with the object and initiates a dialogue between metaphysical and material pursuits.
The bindi is an iconic personal affect of Indian women that is one of Kher’s signature materials and a loaded symbol. Since first appearing in her work in 1995, the bindi has inherited an aesthetic and cultural duality, a means to mix the superficial with the sublime. Kher explains: ‘Many in the West believe it’s simply a mark of marriage or a fashion accessory… But actually the bindi represents the third eye – a symbol that forges a link between the real and the metaphysical worlds that she calls “A super consciousness”. Used as a material to articulate and animate her themes, bindis as such are not meant to be the central-motif of her work but rather act as a material, much like paint or clay, but with inherent narrative. The bindis themselves undergo a shift in their initial cultural capital – they are defamiliarized, made to seem both scientific and mystical.
Solo Exhibitions
2022
Arnolfini, 'Bharti Kher', Bristol, UK
Public Art Fund, Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, 'Bharti Kher. Ancestor', New York NY
2021
Nature Morte, 'Strange Attractors', New Delhi, India
2020
Irish Museum of Modern Art, ‘A consummate joy’, Dublin, Ireland
Galerie Perrotin, ‘The unexpected freedom of chaos’, New York, USA
2019
Hauser & Wirth, ‘A wonderful anarchy’, Somerset, UK
2018
Galerie Perrotin, ‘Djinns, Things, Places’, Tokyo, Japan
DHC/ART - Foundation, 'Points de départ, points qui lient', Montreal QCM
Grunwald Gallery of Art, ‘Messengers’, Bloomington IN
2017
Museum Frieder Burda / Salon Berlin, ‘Dark Matter (MM)’, Berlin, Germany
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, ‘Sketchbooks and Diaries’, Boston MA
2016
Freud Museum, ‘This Breathing House’, London, England
Galerie Perrotin, ‘The Laws of Reversed Effort’, Paris, France
Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, ‘In Her Own Language’, Perth, Australia
Vancouver Art Gallery, ‘Matter’, Vancouver, Canada
2014
Hauser & Wirth, ‘three decimal points. Of a minute of a second of a degree’, Zurich, Switzerland
Rockbund Art Museum, ‘Misdemeanours’, Shanghai, China
2013
Kukje Gallery, ‘Anomalies’, Seoul, Korea
Nature Morte, ‘Bind the Dream State to your Waking Life’, New Delhi, India
2012
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, ‘Many, (too) many, more than before’, Hong Kong, China
Hauser & Wirth, ‘The hot winds that blow from the West’, New York NY
Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London, England
Savannah College for Art and Design, ‘Reveal the secrets that you seek’, Savannah GA
2011
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, ‘Leave your smell’, Paris, France
2010
Gallery SKE, ‘disturbia, utopia, house beautiful’, Bangalore, India
Hauser & Wirth London, ‘inevitable undeniable necessary’, London, England
Hauser & Wirth Outdoor Sculpture Southwood Garden, St.James’s Church, ‘Hauser & Wirth Outdoor Sculpture: Bharti Kher, London, England
2008
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, ‘Virus’, Gateshead, England
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, ‘Sing to them that will listen’, Paris, France
2007
Jack Shainman Gallery, ‘An Absence of Assignable Cause’, New York NY
Nature Morte, ‘An Absence of Assignable Cause’, New Delhi, India
2006
Gallery 88 and Gallery Ske, ‘Do not Meddle in the Affairs of Dragons, Because You Are Crunchy and Taste Good with Ketchup’, Mumbai, India
2004
Gallery Ske, ‘Quasi-, mim-, ne-, near-, semi-, -ish, -like’, Bangalore, India
Nature Morte, ‘Hungry Dogs Eat Dirty Pudding’, New Delhi, India
2001
Gallery Chemould, ‘The Private Softness of Skin’, Mumbai, India
2000
Bose Pacia Gallery, ‘The Private Softness of Skin’, New York NY
1999
Galerie F.I.A, ‘Telling Tails’, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1997
Galerie F.I.A, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1995
Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
1993
AIFACS, New Delhi, India
Group Exhibitions
2022
Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello/Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, 'Uncombed, Unforeseen, Unconstrained', Venice, Italy
Hauser & Wirth, 'Chromophilia', Zurich, Switzerland
2021
Firstsite, 'Sculpture at Firstsite', Colchester, UK
Unit London, 'Song of Songs', London, UK
Nature Morte, 'On | Site', New Dehli, India
Hub India: Classical Radical, Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti di Torino, Torino, Italy
2020
Fondation Phi, ‘Relations (Diaspora and Painting)’, Montreal, Canada
Fondation Opale, ‘Résonance’, Switzerland
Arken, ‘Animals in Art’, Ishøj, Denmark
Dhaka Art Summit, ‘Seismic Movements’, Bangladesh
JCAF Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation, 'Contemporary Female Identities in the Global South', Johannesburg, South Africa
The British Museum, 'Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution', London, UK
The Columbia Museum of Arts, 'Visions from India. 21st-Century Art from the Pizzuti Collection', Columbia SC
2019
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, ‘In the Company of Artists, 25 Years of Artists-In-Residence’, Boston, MA
Irish Museum of Modern Art, ‘Desire: A Revision from the 20th Century to the Digital Age’, Dublin, Ireland
Columbus Museum of Art, 'Driving Forces: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Ann and Ron Pizzuti', Columbus, OH
Harvard Business School, 'Public Art Exhibition', Boston MA
University of Toronto Art Centre, 'Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada', Toronto ON
2018
Thailand Biennale, 'Edge of the Wonderland', Krabi, Thailand
Regent’s Park, 'Frieze Sculpture 2018', London, UK
SCAD Museum of Art, ‘I See You’, Georgia, USA
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, ‘Facing India’, Wolfsburg, Germany
Victoria Miro, 'Surface Work', London, UK
The MET Breuer, 'Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300–Now)', New York NY
RMIT Art Gallery, 'My Monster: The Human Animal Hybrid', Melbourne. Australia
The Sculpture Park at Madhavendra Palace, 'Group Exhibition 2017-18', Jaipur, India Savannah College of Art and Design, ‘I See You’, Savannah, USA 2018- Art Gallery of Alberta, ‘Vision Exchange Perspectives from India to Canada’, Canada
Firstsite, 'Bronze Age c. 3500 BC–AD 2018', Colchester, UK
2017
Pizzuti Collection, ‘Visions from India. Transforming Vi sion: 21st Century Art from the Pizzuti Collection’, Columbus OH
Art Gallery of South Australia, ‘Versus Rodin: Bodies Across Space and Time’, Adelaide, Australia
Hauser & Wirth, ‘Portable Art: A Project by Celia Forner’, New York NY
2016
Weserburg, ‘I Prefer Life’, Bremen, Germany
Johyun Gallery, ‘Present’, Busan, Korea
20th Biennale of Sydney, ‘The Future Is Already Here – It’s Just Not Evenly Distributed’, Sydney, Australia
2015
Hauser & Wirth, ‘Salon d’Hiver’, Zurich, Switzerland
Villa Reale’s Galleria d’Arte Moderna, ‘Don’t Shoot the Painter – UBS Art Collection’, Milan, Italy
SKE Gallery, ‘Codes of Culture’, New Delhi, India
Art Gallery of New South Wales, ‘Go East – The Gene & Brian Sherman Contemporary Asian Art Collection’, Sydney, Australia
2014
Kochi Biennale Foundation, ‘Kochi-Muziris Biennale’, Kochi, India
L’Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, ‘Entre deux expositions. Collection et nouvelles acquisitions de l’Institut’, Bourdeaux, France
Galerie Perrotin, ‘GIRL – curated by Pharrell Williams’, Paris, France
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, ‘Seeing through Light’, Abu Dhabi, UAE
The Old Sorting Office, ‘Here Today… A Major exhibition marking 50 years of the IUCN Red List’, London, England
2013
Hauser & Wirth, ‘Trade Routes’, London, England
Khoj International Artists’ Association, ‘We are Ours: A Collection of Manifestos for the Instant’, New Delhi, India
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, ‘Art & Textiles – Fabric as Material and Concept in Modern Art from Klimt to the Present’, Wolfsburg, Germany
Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, ‘Misled by Nature: Contemporary Art and the Baroque’, Toronto, Canada (Travelling Exhibition)
2012
Arken Museum of Modern Art, ‘India: Art Now’, Arken, Denmark
Art Gallery of Alberta, ‘Misled by Nature: Contemporary Art and the Baroque’, Edmonton, Canada (Travelling Exhibition)
Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, ‘La Belle & la Bête’, Bordeaux, France
Mystetskyi Arsenal, ‘First International Biennale of Contemporary Art: “The Best of Times, The Worst of Times. Rebirth and Apocalypse in Contemporary Art”’, Kiev, Ukraine
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, ‘Massive/Intensive: Contemporary Art from India’, Tel Aviv, Israel
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, ‘Dot. Systems. From Pointillism to Pixelation’, Ludwigshafen, Germany
Traffic, ‘Domination, Hegemony and The Panopticon’, Dubai, UAE
2011
Centre Pompidou, ‘Paris – Delhi – Bombay’, Paris, France
Essl Museum, ‘Festival der Tiere’, Klosterneuburg, Austria
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ‘Maximum INDIA’, Washington DC
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, ‘Pattern ID’, Kansas City MO (Travelling Exhibition)
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, ‘Time Unfolded’, New Delhi, India
MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo, ‘Indian Highway V’, Rome, Italy (Travelling Exhibition)
Musée d’Art Contemporain, ‘Indian Highway IV’, Lyon, France
Nature Morte, ‘Seduction by Masquerade’, New Delhi, India
2010
Akron Art Museum, ‘Pattern ID’, Akron OH (Travelling Exhibition)
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, ‘Tauba Auerbach, Matthew Day Jackson…’, Paris, France
Gothenburg City Hall, ‘Gothenburg Culture Festival’, Gothenburg, Sweden
Herning Kunstmuseum, ‘Indian Highway III’, Herning, Denmark (Travelling Exhibition)
Kunstmuseum Luzern, ‘Lebenszeichen. Altes Wissen in der zeitgenössischen Kunst / Signs of Life. Ancient Knowledge in Contemporary Art’, Lucerne, Switzerland
Kunstmuseum Thun, ‘Susan Hefuna – Bharti Kher – Fred Tomaselli: Between the Worlds’, Thun, Switzerland
Manchester Art Gallery, ‘Facing East: Recent Works from China, India and Japan from the Frank Cohen Collection’, Manchester, England
Museum of Contemporary Art, ‘Tokyo Art Meeting. Transformation’, Tokyo, Japan
Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art, ‘21st Century: Art in the first Decade’, Queensland, Australia
The Saatchi Gallery, ‘The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today’, London, England
Tri Postal, ‘Lille3000: “The Silk Road”. Saatchi Gallery London in Lille’, Lille, France
2009
Lalit Kala Academy, ‘Marvellous Reality’, New Delhi, India
Astrup Fearnley Museum, ‘Indian Highway II’, Oslo, Norway (Travelling Exhibition)
Casa Asia, ‘Indian Narrative in the 21st Century: Between Memory and History’, Madrid, Spain
Essl Museum, ‘Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art’, Klosterneuburg, Austria (Travelling Exhibition)
Marianne Boesky Gallery, ‘Group Show: Bharti Kher, Yayoi Kusama, Eva Rothschild, Mindy Shapero’, New York NY
Museum on the Seam, ‘Nature Nation’, Jerusalem, Israel
National Museum of Contemporary Art, ‘Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art / Open Your Third Eye’, Seoul, Korea (Travelling Exhibition)
The New Art Gallery Walsall, ‘Re-imagining Asia. A Thousand Years of Separation’, Walsall, England (Travelling Exhibition)
Palais Bénédictine, ‘Les Artistes Indiens d’Aujourd’hui’, Fécamp, France
Palais des Arts de Dinard, ‘Who`s Afraid of the Artists? A Selection of Works from the Pinault Collection’, Dinard, France
Temporary space at Zimmerstrasse 90-91,‘Conflicting Tales – Works from the Burger Collection in Berlin: Subjectivity (Quadrilogy, Part 1)’, Berlin, Germany
Yale University School of Art, ‘Shifting Shapes. Unstable Signs’, New Haven CT
2008
Anant Art Centre, ‘Mutant Beauty’, New Delhi, India
Bodhi Art, ‘Everywhere is War (and rumours of war)’, Mumbai, India
Busan Biennale, ‘Expenditure’, Busan, Korea
Devi Art Foundation, ‘Still moving Image’, New Delhi, India
Devi Art Foundation, ‘Where in the World’, New Delhi, India
Espace Claude Berri, ‘Artistes Indien, Collection Claude Berri’, Paris, France
Frank Cohen Collection at Initial Access, ‘Passage to India’, Wolverhampton, England
Haus der Kulturen der Welt, ‘Re-imagining Asia. A Thousand Years of Separation’, Berlin, Germany (Travelling Exhibition)
Institut Valencia d`Art Modern, ‘India Moderna’, Valencia, Spain
Mori Art Museum, ‘Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art’, Tokyo, Japan (Travelling Exhibition)
Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, ‘Ours, Chat, Cochon & Cie’, Lausanne, Switzerland
The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art at Johnson County Community College, ‘Distant Nearness’, Kansas City KS
Primo Marella Gallery, ‘New Delhi – New Wave’, Milan, Italy
Serpentine Gallery, ‘Indian Highway’, London, England (Travelling Exhibition)
Swarovski Crystal World, ‘India – Guest in the Giant’, Wattens, Austria
2007
Art Gallery of Ontario, ‘Hungry God’, Toronto, Canada
Durban Art Gallery, ‘The Sneeze 80 × 80’, Cape Town, South Africa
FLUSS – NÖ Initiative for Photo-and Media Art, ‘Indian Photo- and Media Art: A Journey of Discovery’, Weinviertel, Austria
Hangar Bicocca, ‘Urban Manners – 15 Contemporary Artists from India’, Milan, Italy
Sammlung DaimlerChrysler- Lekha and Anupam Poddar Collections, ‘Private/Corporate IV’, Berlin, Germany
The South African National Gallery, ‘The Sneeze 80 × 80’, Cape Town, South Africa (Travelling Exhibition)
Wedel Fine Art, ‘Face East. Contemporary Asian Portraiture’, London, England
2006
Arario Gallery, ‘Hungry Gods’, Beijing, China
Ex Mercato Ortofrutticolo ‘Fuori Uso 2006 – Altered Stated, are you experienced? ‘, Pescara, Italy
Galerie Enrico Navarra, ‘Made by Indians. Art on the Beach’, St Tropez, France
Gallery Chemould at The Museum Gallery, ‘Long Happy Hours. Thereby Happiness & Other Stories’, Mumbai, India
IFA Galerie, ‘Zeitsprünge, Raumfolgen’, Stuttgart, Germany
Lille 3000, ‘Le Troisième Oeil’, Lille, France
Nature Morte, ‘Inside Outside’, New Delhi, India
Queensland Art Gallery, ‘The 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’, Brisbane, Australia
2005
De Beverd Museum voor Grafische Werkelijkheid, ‘Het offer/ An intimate I: Droom en Werkelijkheid’, Breda, Netherlands
LÉcole des Beaux Arts, ‘Indian Summer’, Paris, France
IFA Galerie, ‘Zeitsprünge, Raumfolgen’, Berlin, Germany
Nature Morte, ‘Summer Show’, New Delhi, India
Walsh Gallery, ‘Mom and Pop’ Chicago IL
2004
Gallery Chemould, ‘Crossing Generations: Diverge’, Mumbai, India
The Gazon Rouge Gallery, ‘The Sneeze 80 × 80’, Athens, Greece (Travelling Exhibition)
India Habitat Center, ‘Adrogyne’, New Delhi, India
Sakshi Gallery, ‘Vanitas Vanitatum’, Mumbai, India
Thomas Erben Gallery, ‘Contemporary Art From India’, New York NY
2003
Apparao Gallery at The Apeejay New Media Centre, ‘Bad Taste’, New Delhi, India
Art Inc, ‘Sirpur Paper Mills’, New Delhi, India
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, ‘The Tree from the Seed: Contemporary Art from India’, Hovikodden, Norway
2002
CIMA Gallery, ‘Sidewinder’, Kolkata, India (Travelling Exhibition)
Coomarswamy Hall, The Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, ‘Sidewinder’, Mumbai, India (Travelling Exhibition)
Habitat Centre, ‘Sidewinder’, New Delhi, India (Travelling Exhibition)
India Habitat Center, ‘Borderless Terrain’, New Delhi, India
Khoj Studios, ‘Khoj Residency Show’, New Delhi, India
Nature Morte, ‘Photosphere’, New Delhi, India
Nature Morte, ‘Glue: An Exhibition about Collage’, New Delhi, India
NGMA Mumbai, ‘Cutting Edge Contemporary’, New Delhi, India
NSA Gallery [a Pulse Project], ‘Silence Violence’, Durban, South Africa
Project 304, ‘Sorry for the Inconvenience’, Bangkok, Thailand
Sakshi Gallery at Habitat Centre, ‘Creative Space’, New Delhi, India
Sumukha Gallery, ‘Glue’, Bangalore, India
Talwar Gallery, ‘MANGO. Visual Selections of SAWCC Artists’, New York NY
Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, ‘Under Construction’, Tokyo, Japan
2001
India Habitat Center, ‘Kitch kitch Hota Hai’, New Delhi, India
Sahmat Project, ‘Art On The Move’, New Delhi, India
2000
Kundan Pan Shop, ‘Aar Paar. An Exchange Between five Indian and Pakistani Artists’, Karachi, Pakistan
Lakeeren Art Gallery, ‘Open Circle Exhibition’, Mumbai, India
Nature Morte, ‘of, based on, or obtained by (Tradition)’, New Delhi, India
1999
‘Boxwallahs’, Gurgaon, India
Central Bureau Vande Hogeschool, ‘Hed end aagse Kunst uit India’, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jim Beard Gallery at CCA, ‘Impact’, New Delhi, India
Nature Morte, ‘___’, New Delhi, India
Nehru Centre, ‘Icons of The Millenium’, Mumbai, India
Sahay Filling Station, Mehrauli Road, N.H.8 (a collaborative work with Subodh Gupta), Sakshi Gallery, ‘Embarkations’, Mumbai, India
1998
British Council, ‘Edge of The Century’, New Delhi, India
Lakeeren Art Gallery, ‘Cryptograms’, Mumbai, India
1996
Edinburgh College of Art, ‘Royal Overseas League Open Exhibition’, Edinburgh, England
Eicher Gallery, ‘Of Women Icons/Stars/Feasts’, New Delhi, India
1995
Bhopal, India Sakshi Gallery, ‘6th Bharat Bhawan Biennal of Contemporary Indian Arts’, Mumbai, India
1993
Art Heritage, ‘Trends in Contemporary Indian Art’, New Delhi, India
1991
Milton Gallery, ‘Aspects of British Figurative Painting (1988-93)’, London, England
1990
Squires Gallery, Newcastle Polytechnic, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Awards
2015
Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters)
2010
ARKEN Art Prize
2007
YFLO Woman Achiever of the Year
2003
The Sanskriti Award