Bharti Kher United Kingdom, b.1969
Bharti Kher was born in the United Kingdom in 1969 and studied Art and Design at Middlesex Polytechnic London and then received a BFA in painting, with honors, from Newcastle Polytechnic. The daughter of Punjabi immigrants to the UK, she has been based in New Delhi since 1993.
Kher’s artistic practice encompasses all media, with a special emphasis on sculpture. She frequently employs found objects, manipulating them and combining them so as to reflect her own position as an artist located between geographic and social contexts. 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. While much of her sculpture is figurative, Kher also works in abstract and installation modes, flirting with the concepts of the grotesque, the decorative, and the allegorical.
Amongst Kher’s signature materials, loaded with symbolism, is the bindi. First appearing in her work in 1995, she has since inherited its aesthetic and cultural dualities, using it to mix the everyday with the sublime. Kher explains: ‘the bindi to me represents the third eye – one that forges a link between the real and the spiritual/conceptual/other worlds.’ Used to articulate and animate her themes, the bindi acts as raw material, much like paint or clay, but with an inherent narrative linked to consciousness. Used by Kher as pigment, coating, spice, and medication, the bindis undergo a shift in their initial cultural capital, they are defamiliarized, made to seem both scientific and mystical, taking on the attributes of language in the process of translation.
Kher’s recent solo exhibitions include: Alchemies, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK (2024); Bharti Kher, Arnolfini, Bristol,UK (2022); A Consummate Joy, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2020); Chimeras, Centre Pasqu’Art, Biel, France (2018); Dark Matter, Museum Frieder Burda, Berlin (2017); This Breathing House, Freud Museum, London (2016); Matter, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver (2016); In Her Own Language, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, The University of Western Australia, Perth (2016); Misdemeanours, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2014). Her large-scale bronze sculpture entitled Ancestors was presented by the Public Art Fund at the Doris C. Freedman Plaza, New York City, and on view from September 2022 to August 2023.
Recent group exhibitions include: Uncombed, Unforeseen, Unconstrained, Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello/Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, Venice (2022); Hub India: Classical Radical, Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti, Torino (2021); Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution, The British Museum, London (2020); Contemporary Female Identities in the Global South, Johannesburg Contemporary Art Foundation (2020); In the Company of Artists, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (2019); Desire: A Revision from the 20th Century to the Digital Age, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2019); Surface Work, Victoria Miro, London (2018); Facing India, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg (2018); Like Life: Sculpture, Colour and the Body (1300-Now), The Metropolitan Museum, New York (2018).
Selected Artworks
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2024
Alchemies, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
Target Queen, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
2022
Bharti Kher, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
Bharti Kher. Ancestor, Public Art Fund, Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, New York NY
2021
Strange Attractors, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
2020
A Consummate Joy, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
The Unexpected Freedom of Chaos, Galerie Perrotin, New York, USA
2019
A Wonderful Anarchy, Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
2018
Messengers, Grunwald Gallery of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
Chimeras, Pasquart Kunsthaus Centre d'art, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
Points de départ, points qui lient, DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal, Canada
Djinns, things, places, Galerie Perrotin, Tokyo, Japan
2017
Bharti Kher: Sketchbooks and Diaries, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA
Dark Matter (MM), Museum Frieder Burda Salon, Berlin, Germany
2016
The Laws of Reversed Effort, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
This Breathing House, Freud Museum, London, England
Matter, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
In Her Own Language, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth, Australia
2015
Not All Who Wanders Are Lost, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA
2014
Three decimal points. of a minute of a second of a degree, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
Misdemeanors, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2013
Anomalies, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Koria
Bind the Dream State to Your Waking Life, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
2012
Many, (too) many, more than before, Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong
Bharti Kher, Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London, England
The hot winds that blow from the West, Hauser & Wirth, New York, USA
Reveal the secrets that you seek, Savannah College for Art and Design, Savannah, USA
2011
Leave your smell, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
2010
Disturbia, utopia, house beautiful, Gallery SKE, Bangalore, India
Inevitable, undeniable, necessary, Hauser & Wirth, London, England
Hauser & Wirth Outdoor Sculpture: Bharti Kher, Southwood Garden, St.James's Church, London, UK
2008
Sing to them that will listen, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
Virus, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England
2007
An absence of assignable cause, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA
An absence of assignable cause, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
2006
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup, Gallery 88 and Gallery SKE, Mumbai, India
2004
Quasi-, mim-, ne-, near-, semi-, -ish, -like, Gallery SKE, Bangalore, India
Hungry Dogs Eat Dirty Pudding, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
2001
The Private Softness of Skin, Gallery Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, India
2000
The Private Softness of Skin, Bose Pacia Modern, New York, USA
1999
Telling Tails, New Delhi, India
Telling Tails, Galerie F.I.A, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1997
Galerie F.I.A, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1995
Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
1993
AIFACS, New Delhi, India
Group Exhibitions
2024
Connecting Bodies. Asian Women Artists, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Seoul, South Korea
Enchanted Alchemies. Magic, Mysticism, and the Occult in Art, Levy Gorvy Dayan, London, UK
In the House of the Trembling Eye. An exhibition staged by Allison Katz, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, USA
2023
The Offbeat Sari, The Design Museum, London, UK
2022
Pop South Asia. Artistic Explorations in the Popular, Sharjah Art Foundation,Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Uncombed, Unforeseen, Unconstrained, Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello/Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, Venice, Italy
Chromophilia, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
2021
Sculpture at Firstsite, Firstsite, Colchester, UK
Song of Songs, Unit London, UK
Hub India: Maximum Minimum, Artissima Fair, Torino, Italy
Hub India: Classical Radical, Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti di Torino, Torino, Italy
On-Site, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
2020
Relations (Diaspora and Painting), Fondation Phi, Montreal, Canada
Résonance, Fondation Opale, Valais, Switzerland
Animals in Art, Arken, Ishøj, Denmark
Seismic Movements, Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Contemporary Female Identities in the Global South, Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa
Tantra: enlightenment to revolution, The British Museum, London, UK
21st-Century Art from the Pizzuti Collection, The Columbia Museum of Arts, Columbia, USA
Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada, Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
2019
Les arts du Tout-Monde, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
In the Company of Artists, 25 Years of Artists-In-Residence, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA
Desire in Art: A Revision from the 20th Century to the Digital Age, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Driving Forces: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Ann and Ron Pizzuti, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, USA
Public Art Exhibition, Harvard Business School, Boston, USA
La Lumière des Mondes, Domaine des Etangs, Massignac, France
Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada, University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto, Canada
2018
Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada, Art Gallery of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
Facing India, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300-Now), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
My Monster: The Human Animal Hybrid, Melbourne, Australia
I See You, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, USA
Surface Work, Victoria Miro, London, UK
The Sculpture Park, Madhavendra Palace at Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur, India
Bronze Age c.3500 BC - AD 2018: Firstsite, Colchester, UK
2017
Fond Illusions, Perrotin, New York, USA
Portable Art: A project by Celia Forner, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
Versus Rodin: Bodies Across Space and Time, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Pizzuti Collection, Visions from India, Transforming Vision: 21st Century Art from the Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, USA
Portable Art: A Project by Celia Forner, Hauser & Wirth, New York, USA
Salon, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
Sub-Plots: Laughing in the Vernacular, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India
Approaching Land, Akara Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
Versus Rodin: Bodies across space and time, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
2016
I Prefer Life, Weserburg, Bremen, Germany
Present, Johyun Gallery, Busan, Korea
The Future Is Already Here, It’s Just Not Evenly Distributed: 20th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
2015
Go East: The Gene & Brian Sherman Contemporary Asian Art Collection, Curated by Suhanya Raffel, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Don’t Shoot the Painter, UBS Art Collection, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan, Italy
Codes of Culture, Gallery SKE, New Dehli, India
2014
Whorled Explorations, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi, India
Girl, Curated by Pharrel Williams, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
Entre deux expositions. Collections et nouvelles acquisitions de l'Institut, Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, Bordeaux, France
Here Today... A major exhibition marking 50 years of the IUCN Red List, The Old Sorting Office, London, UK
2013
Art & Textiles –– Fabric as Material and Concept in Modern Art from Klimt to the Present, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
Quartiers d'été, Collection de l'Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, villa les Roches Brunes, Dinard, France
Trade Routes, Hauser & Wirth, London, UK
We are Ours: A Collection of Manifestos for the Instant, Khoj International Artists’ Association, New Delhi, India
2012
Misled by Nature: Contemporary Art and the Baroque, Organised by the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Alberta, Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada
Systems – From Pointillism to Pixelation, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Germany
La Belle & la Bête, Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, Bordeaux, France
India: Art Now, Arken Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
The First Kiev Biennale of Contemporary Art: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times. Rebirth and Apocalypse in Contemporary Art, Kiev, Ukraine
Critical Mass: Contemporary Art from India, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
2011
Indian Highway V, MAXXI Museum, Roma, Italy
Seduction by Masquerade, Nature Morte, Delhi, India
Paris Delhi Bombay, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Indian Highway IV, Museé d'art contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France
Festival der Tiere, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Maximum INDIA, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC, USA
2010
Tokyo Art Meeting: Transformation, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
Pattern ID, Akron Art Museum, Akron, USA
The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today,The Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Tauba Auerbach, Matthew Day Jackson…, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
Gothenburg Culture Festival, Gothenburg, Sweden
Lille3000: The Silk Road. Saatchi Gallery London in Lille, Tri Postal, Lille, France
Indian Highway, Herning Kunstmuseum, Denmark
Signs of Life – Ancient Knowledge in Contemporary Art, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
Susan Hefuna, Bharti Kher, Fred Tomaselli: Between the Worlds, Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland
Facing East: Recent Works from China, India and Japan from the Frank Cohen Collection, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
Pattern ID, Akron Art Museum, USA
2009
Marvellous Reality, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, India
Shifting Shapes. Unstable Signs, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, USA
Indian Narrative in the 21st Century: Between Memory and History, Madrid / Casa Asia, Barcelona, Spain
Who’s Afraid of the Artists? A Selection of Works from the Pinault Collection, Palais des Arts de Dinard, France
Bharti Kher, Yayoi Kusama, Eva Rothschild, Mindy Shapiro, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, USA
Les Artistes Indiens d’Aujourd’hui, Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp, France
Nature Nation, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel
Re-imagining Asia: A Thousand Years of Separation, The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, UK (Traveling Exhibition)
Where in the World, Curated by Kavita Singh, Shukla Sawant and Naman Ahuja, Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India
Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art, Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria
Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art, The National Museum of Contemporary Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
Indian Highway, Curated by Gunnar B. Kvaran, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway
2008
Indian Highway, curated by Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK
Mutant Beauty, Curated by Gayatri Sinha, Anant Art, New Delhi
Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Indian Focus, Espace Claude Berri, Paris, France
Everywhere is war (and rumors of war), Curated by Shaheen Merali, Bodhi Art, Mumbai, India
Still Moving Image, Curated by Deeksha Nath, Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India
Expenditure, The Busan Biennale, The Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan, Korea
Comme des bêtes (Like Animals), Fine Arts Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland
Re-imagining Asia: A Thousand Years of Separation, Curated by Shaheen Merali and Wu Hang, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany
Distant Nearness, The Neuman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Kansas, USA
Passage to India, Frank Cohen Collection at Initial Access Wolverhampton, UK
India - Guest in the Giant, Organised by Swarovski, Kristallwelten, Wattens, Austria
New Delhi – New Wave, Primo Marella Gallery, Milano, Italy
2007
Hungry God, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
The Sneeze 80x80, Curated by Peter Lloyd Lewis and Natasha Makowski, Cape Town,
Durban, South Africa
Urban Manners. Contemporary Artists from India, Curated by Adelina von Furstenberg, Hangar Bicocca in collaboration with ART for the World Europa, Milan, Italy
Indian Photo and Media Art: A Jouney of Discovery, FLUSS - NÖ Initiative for Photo-and Media Art, Weinviertel, Austria
FUORI USO 2006. ALTERED STATES, MNAC National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania
Private/Corporate IV, Lekha and Anupam Poddar Collections, Sammlung DaimlerChrysler, Berlin, Germany
International exhibition of sculptures and installations, Organised by Arte Communications and the Department of culture of the Venice City Council
Face East. Contemporary Asian Portraiture, Wedel Fine Art, London, UK
2006
Fuori Uso 2006- Altered States. Are you experienced?, Curated by Nicolas Bourriaud and Paolo Falcone, Ex Mercato Ortofrutticolo, Pescara, Italy
Asia Pacific Triennale, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
Le troisième Oeil, Lille 3000, Curated by Caroline Naphegyi, Lille, France
Inside Outside, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
Hungry Gods, Arario Gallery, Beijing, China
Made By Indians, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Art on the Beach, St Tropez, France
Long Happy Hours Thereby Happiness & Other Stories, Gallery Chemould at The Museum Gallery, Mumbai, India
2005
Zeitsprunge Raumfolgen, Curated by Simone Wilke, IFA Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Mom and Pop, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, USA
Indian Summer, Curated by Deepak Anand and Jany Luga, L’ École des Beaux Arts, Paris, France
Indian Summer, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
Het offer/ an intimate I: Droom en werkelijkheid, De Beverd Museum voor Grafische werkeljkheid, Breda, Netherlands
2004
Contemporary Art from India, Thomas Erben Gallery, New York, USA
Vanitas Vanitatum, Curated by Peter Nagy, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
The SNEEZE, a Featured Film 80 artists x 80 seconds 106 minutes, Curated by Natasha Makowski and Peter Lloyd Lewis, Athens, Greece
Adrogyne, Curated by Alka Pande, India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India
2003
Crossing Generations: diverge, Curated by Geeta Kapur and Chaitanya Sambrani, Gallery Chemould at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India
The Tree from the Seed: Contemporary art from India, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Norway
Sirpur Paper Mills, workshop Exhibition, Art Inc, New Delhi, India
Bad Taste, Apparao Gallery, The Apeejay New Media Centre, New Delhi, India
2002
Under Construction, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Khoj Residency Show, Khoj Studios, New Delhi, India
Creative Space, Sakshi Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India
Photosphere, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
Playgrounds & Toys, ART for The World, Geneva, in Delhi, India
Cutting Edge Contemporary, Curated by Art Edge, National Gallery of Modern Art Mumbai, New Delhi, India
Glue, curated by Peter Nagy, Sumukha Gallery, Bangalore, India
Borderless Terrain, Curated by Alka Pande, India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India
Silence Violence, a Pulse Project, Curated by Greg Streak Durban, NSA Gallery, NieBethesda and Stellenbosch, South Africa
MANGO, A SAWCC show, Talwar Gallery, New York, USA
Sorry for The Inconvenience, Curated by Gridthiya Gaweewong, Japan Foundation, at Project 304, Bangkok, Thailand
Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo
Sidewinder, curated by Gerard Hemsworth, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata, and India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India
2001
Art On The Move, a Sahmat Project, Curated by Vivan Sundaram, Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, USA
Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Kitch kitch Hota Hai, curated by Madhu Jain, India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India, Presented by Gallery Espace
2000
Open Circle Exhibition, Lakeeren Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
of, based on, or obtained by (Tradition), Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
Aar Paar, an exchange between five Indian and Pakistani artists, Curated by Shilpa Gupta, Kundan Pan Shop, Karachi, Pakistan
1999
Impact, Curated by Jim Beard Gallery, Amsterdam at CCA New Delhi, India
Embarkation’s, Curated by Yashodra Dalmia, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
Icons of The Millenium, Curated by Lakeeren Art Gallery at Nehru Centre, Mumbai, India
Boxwallahs, Art in a Public Space with De Ego, A collaborative work with Subodh Gupta at Sahay Filling Station, Gurgaon/ Mehrauli Road, N.H.8, India
Hed end aagse Kunst uit India, Central Bureau Vande Hogeschool, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1998
Edge of The Century, curated by Amit Mukopadya, British Council, New Delhi, India
Cryptograms, Lakeeren Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
1996
Royal Overseas League Open Exhibition, Overseas House London, Edinburgh College of Art, UK
Of Women Icons/Stars/Feasts, Eicher Gallery, New Delhi, India
1995
6th Bharat Bhawan Biennal of Contemporary Indian Arts, Bhopal, India
Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
Postcards for Gandhi, a Sahmat Exhibition, in five cities in India
1993
Trends in Contemporary Indian Art, Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
1991
Aspects of British Figurative Painting (1988-93), Milton Gallery, London, UK
1990
Fresh Art, the National Fine Art Degree Fair, The Business Design Center, London, UK
Squires Gallery, Newcastle Polytechnic, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Awards
2015
Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France)
2010
ARKEN Art Prize
2007
YFLO Woman Achiever of the Year
2004
French Government residency, Paris, France
2003
The Sanskriti Award
2002
Khoj Residency, New Delhi, India
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria
National Museum of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India
Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India
Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
The British Museum, London, United Kingdom
Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester MA, USA
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN, USA
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh NC, USA