Natraj Sharma
Born in 1958 in Mysore, Nataraj Sharma grew up in Egypt, England and Zambia. He studied Applied Art at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, graduating in 1982.[Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]Strongly influenced by socio-political happenings across the world and his own migrations, his art reflects a multiplicity of influences, not just in its content but also in its form. Sharma has dabbled with equal ease and success in varied styles of painting, digital art and installations. Heavily influenced by pop art and its stalwart Andy Warhol, Dadaism and Marcel Duchamp, and the Indian Progressive artists, Sharma’s art visual vocabulary emerged as strongly individualized and strikingly bold. [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]Sharma moves swiftly and convincingly between figure studies, portraits and landscapes in oil and acrylic on canvas, and large scale installations. His recent works explore urban landscapes and industrial geometry, playing and teasing the forms that they take, stretching their boundaries, and depicting civilization through empty factories and battered machines. [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]Sharma solo exhibitions include 'Airshow' at Bodhi Art, Singapore in 2008-09; 'Work In Progress' at Bodhi Space, Mumbai, in 2008; ‘Stretch’ at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute and Bodhi Art, Singapore, Mumbai and New York, in 2007; ‘Flight’ at Art and Public, Geneva, and Bodhi Art, Mumbai, in 2007. His work has been a part of several group shows including 'Living of the Grid' at Anant Art Centre, New Delhi, in 2009; 'Zip Files' at Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2009; 'Frame Figure Field: 20th Century Modern and Contemporary Indian Art' at Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi.
Sharma was awarded the Sotheby’s Award for Best Emerging Artist in 1993, and participated in an artist residency program at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI), Singapore, in 2006.
His exhibit with us is titled Conversation, an acrylic on canvas pasted on Masonite board made in 1999.
