Born in 1972 at Mangalore, Manjunath Kamath or B M Kamath as his full name, studied for a degree in sculpture from Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA) in Mysore. Marked by spontaneity and creative imagination, his art is redflective of the current socio political context and what he sees around. An artist’s residency at the School of Art & Design, University of Wales in Cardiff, on a Charles Wallace Trust Scholarship early in his career, helped open him up and hone his skills further. Mastery in sculpting, drawing, painting, digital and mixed media, is reflected in Manjunath’s multimedia work, as it weaves stories within stories. In an interface between wit and serious comment, he tends to work fluidly, constantly altering his media and stories, often in series of differently shaped fragments, as befits the environment they are located in. This endows his work a different meaning each time it is ‘re-enacted’ on his canvas or another media. Images of buildings, animals, domestic and urban contexts float across, against a subtle palette in the background. Moving from the local and idiosyncratic his work suggests an enigmatic engagement with the universal. The artist’s work has been exhibited around the world including at ‘Digifesta’ the Gwangju City Museum, Gwangju Biennale, Changwon Art festival, India Art Summit, Art Dubai, Asian Contemporary Art Singapore and Art Expo Mumbai, besides numerous exhibitions at Delhi and other metropolitan cities. His work is part of the collections at National Gallery of Modern Art, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Alkazi Foundation and other institutions. The artist lives and works in New Delhi.
