Nature Morte is pleased to present The Shape of Standing, a solo show of new works by Basist Kumar. The exhibition is comprised of a group of new paintings, the subject of each being a single tree. In some, a larger landscape contains the tree, in others the tree is viewed close-up, only part of the whole being visible. In all the works, a sense of atmosphere prevails and an overwhelming attention to detail commands the viewer’s attention.

While trees will obviously bring up the subject of ecology, Basist’s trees also appear as a diverse group of characters in an on-going drama or even ciphers of various psychological states. We are also reminded of the role the tree has played in art history, manifesting various aesthetic categories: Gothic, Romantic, Surrealist, and Existentialist. Along with the paintings are a set of works on paper and a single sculpture. The works on paper reduce the image of the tree to a graphic token, black ink on a white ground, akin to a lightning bolt or the samurai’s sword. The sculpture appears arboreal only in a prehistoric sense, a hulking mass that clings to life in a post-apocalyptic trauma.

Artist’s Statement

This exhibition approaches landscape not as depiction, but as a condition of presence. The works originate from encounters with real sites, photographs taken during field visits, but gradually move away from documentation. What emerges is an imagined terrain structured through atmosphere, density, and spatial tension rather than geographic accuracy.

The recurring solitary tree becomes less a motif and more a proposition. It stands as a vertical body within an expanse, fixed, exposed, and irreducible to its surroundings. In its stillness, it shapes the space around it. Standing is understood here as a spatial act: to occupy, to endure, to define a field without movement.

The large oil paintings operate through muted tonalities and restrained chromatic fields. Their surfaces suspend time, holding a melancholic register where memory and perception overlap. These works ask the viewer not to look at the landscape, but to enter its depth. Smaller ink works on rice paper condense this inquiry. Through reduction and tonal restraint, they shift attention towards the embodiment.

“The Shape of Standing” considers the body not as a closed boundary, but as a threshold. It asks whether presence ends at the surface of skin or whether it extends into the space it shapes and is shaped by. Through multiple mediums, the exhibition constructs a landscape that is less seen than inhabited.

About the Artist

Basist Kumar (b. Bokaro, Jharkhand, 1984) received his BFA in 2007 from the College of Art, Delhi University and his MFA in 2009 from the Vishwa-Bharati University, Santiniketan. Having been trained in the figurative school in India, a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture enabled him to study at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China for two years (2013–15), concentrating on landscapes.

Kumar has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions at Nature Morte, New Delhi and Davide Gallo Gallery, Berlin and participated in group exhibitions at Nature Morte, New Delhi; Maya Art Space, Kolkata; Bose Pacia, Kolkata; and the Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur.