Jitish Kallat

(Indian, born 1974)

Jitish Kallat is a contemporary Indian is a painter, sculptor, photographer, and installation artist best known for work that celebrates the city of Mumbai. Working in a multimedia approach to subject matter, his works range from esoteric naturescapes to political critiques of the socio-economic divide in his home country. Kallat often utilizes popular Indian advertising aesthetics that he incorporates throughout his practice. His Dawn Chorus (2007) series, for example, depicts street urchins with hair that forms a web of traffic and pedestrians. The artist mounted these paintings on sculptures made from wall decorations found in a 120-year-old train station in Mumbai. Born on July 14, 1974 in Mumbai, India, Kallat attended the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in Mumbai where he graduated with a BFA in 1996. He had his first major exhibition in the United States in 2010 at the Art Institute of Chicago with a large installation titled Public Notice 3. Today, Kallat’s works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Singapore Art Museum, among others. Kallat lives and works in Mumbai, India.