NS Harsha

N.S. Harsha’s work draws inspiration from traditional Indian miniature painting and tapestries while reflecting upon geopolitics in contemporary India. His large-scale acrylic paintings, miniature works on paper, wall and floor works, sculptures, site-specific installations, and public projects often engage with the community, an important component of his multifaceted practice. The artist includes details from his personal biography in these investigations of the structures and barriers in India. His prime goal is to expose local peculiarities and liberate the discourse concerning systems of power, belief, and knowledge. Repetition and serial subjects, such as farm animals or figures sewing carrots, shed light upon elements of struggle with a philosophical outlook that integrates humor and staunch critique of labor and politics. Harsha’s meditative practice and desire to shatter hierarchical expectations facilitates a body of work that grants him leave from “the market of meanings” in exchange for contemplation of how global events impact the average person in India.

Harsha has exhibited at institutions including the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Herning Art Museum, Denmark, Musee d’Art Contemporain, Lyon, MAXXI, Rome, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, MuHKA, Antwerp, and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, among many others. He was also featured in the 2012 Adelaide International Biennial, the 2011 Yokohama Triennial, and the Bienal de Sao Paulo in 2010, among others. The artist was also a recipient of the DAAD Scholarship in 2012, and the Artes Mundi Prize in 2008.