Figure, IV, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Diagonal, I, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Interstellar Globe, 2019
Sisters Apart, 2001
The Hungarian Great Plain, 2001
Barricade (with mattress), 2008
Prospect, 2005-2008
Vivan Sundaram (1943-2023) studied painting at M.S. University of Baroda and the Slade School of Art, London. He gravitated from his accomplished practice as a painter in the late 1980s towards working with photography and video, assemblage and installation.
Since 1990 he made installations that include sculpture, photographs and video: Memorial (1993, 2014), in response to communal violence in Bombay, History Project (1998), a monumental site-specific installation at the Victoria Memorial, Calcutta; and continuing work on his family, The Sher-Gil Archive (1995) and Re-take of Amrita (2001–06). A series of exhibitions using found objects include Trash (2008), GAGAWAKA: Making Strange (2011) and Postmortem (2013). He coauthored 409 Ramkinkars (2015) with theatre directors, and Meanings of Failed Action: Insurrection 1946 with a cultural theorist and sound designer. In 2018, a retrospective of Vivan’s work, ‘Step inside and you are no longer a stranger’ was exhibited at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, followed by a survey exhibition, ‘Disjunctures’, curated by Deepak Ananth at Haus der Kunst, Munich (2018); and Install: black gold, terraoptics and the work of termites (2019) PHOTOINK, New Delhi.
Vivan Sundaram was one of 30 artists specially commissioned to make new work to mark the Sharjah Biennial’s 30th anniversary edition, Thinking Historically in the Present. His photography-based project ‘Six Stations of a Life Pursued’ (2023) was exhibited at the Sharjah Biennial 15. His installation ‘Memorial’ was acquired and exhibited at Tate Modern, London (2023).
Sundaram had exhibited widely in India and abroad including in the Biennales of Havana, Johannesburg, Kwangju, Taipei, Sharjah, Shanghai, Sydney, Seville and Berlin, and the Asia-Pacific Triennial, Brisbane. He organized artists’ workshops and seminars at the Kasauli Art Centre from 1976 to 1991; contributed variously to the Journal of Arts & Ideas (1981–99); and curated several exhibitions for the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT). He was a founding member of all these organizations. Vivan Sundaram was the editor of a two-volume book, Amrita Sher-Gil: a self-portrait in letters & writings (2010). He was the managing trustee, with his sister Navina Sundaram, of the Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF), set up in 2016.
Figure, I, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5
Figure, II, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5
Figure, III, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5
Figure, IV, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 3
Black River, I, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5
Black River, II, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 3
Ring of Fire, I, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
36 × 36 in (91.4 × 91.4 cm)
Ed of 5
Ring of Fire, II, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
36 × 36 in (91.4 × 91.4 cm)
Ed of 5
Red River, I, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5
Red River, II, 2016
from the series, terraoptics
Pigment print
30 × 30 in (76.2 × 76.2 cm)
Ed of 5
Master plan, 2005-2008
Pigment print
56.5 × 198 in (143.5 × 503 cm)
Ed of 10
Barricade (with red beam), 2008
Pigment print
39.5 × 100 in (100 × 254 cm)
Ed of 10
Barricade (with gutter), 2007
Pigment print
39.5 × 119 in (100 × 302 cm)
Ed of 10
Barricade (with two drains), 2008
Pigment print
39.5 × 86.5 in (100 × 220 cm)
Ed of 10
Barricade (with mattress), 2008
Pigment print
38.75 × 67 in (98.5 × 170 cm)
Ed of 10
Barricades (with props), 2008
Pigment print
39.5 × 63.25 in (100 × 160.5 cm)
Ed of 10
Barricade (with glass tower), 2008
Pigment print
39.5 × 79 in (100 × 200.5 cm)
Ed of 10
Reef (with tower), 2008
Pigment print
39.5 × 94.5 in (100 × 240 cm)
Ed of 10
Two Towers, 2008
Pigment print
60 × 38 in (152.5 × 96.5 cm)
Ed of 10
Metal Box, 2008
Pigment print
39.5 × 74.25 in (100 × 188.5 cm)
Ed of 10
Barbed wire, 2008
Pigment print
42.5 × 45.5 in (108 × 115.5 cm)
Ed of 10
Prospect, 2005-2008
Pigment print
104.5 × 59.5 in (265.5 × 143.5 cm)
Ed of 10
Fly, 2008
Pigment print
60 × 39.5 in (152.5 × 100 cm)
Ed of 10
Piano Duet, 2001
Pigment print
12 × 23.4 in (30.5 × 59.4 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Party Night, 2001
Pigment print
15 × 23.9 in (38.1 × 60.7 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Café-talk, 2001
Pigment print
19 × 12.5 in (48.2 × 31.7 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Malaise, 2001
Pigment print
15 × 20.7 in (38.1 × 52.5 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Dancing in the Life-class, 2001
Pigment print
15 × 22 in (38.1 × 55.8 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Presenting Papa, 2001
Pigment print
15 × 12.5 in (38.1 × 31.7 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Cross-lit, 2001
Pigment print
19 × 14.2 in (48.2 × 36 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Millstone, 2002
Pigment print
17 × 23.5 in (43.2 × 59.7 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Father, 2001
Pigment print
15 × 14.5 in (38.1 × 36.8 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Sisters Apart, 2001
Pigment print
15 × 14.4 in (38.1 × 36.5 cm)
Ed of 10 + 3 APs
Untitled, I, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
15.5 × 17 in (39.8 × 43.2 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
Untitled, II, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
15.5 × 17 in (39.8 × 43.2 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
Untitled, III, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
15.5 × 17 in (39.8 × 43.2 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
Untitled, IV, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
39 × 36 in (99.1 × 91.4 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
Untitled, V, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
42 × 38.2 in (106.7 × 97 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
Untitled, VI, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
30 × 30.2 in (76.2 × 76.6 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
Untitled, VII, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
30 × 30.2 in (76.2 × 76.6 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
Untitled, VIII, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
32.8 × 34 in (83.4 × 86.4 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
Untitled, IX, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
32.8 × 34 in (83.4 × 86.4 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
Untitled, X, 2018
From the series, Suture
Pigment print
32.8 × 34 in (83.4 × 86.4 cm)
Based on photographs by Gireesh GV
Photomontage: Hilal Ahmed Khan
