G R IRANNA

G.R. Iranna is a contemporary Indian artist born in Sindgi District Bijapur in Karnataka in 1970. Known for his quasi-abstract works, Iranna endeavours to translate an internal landscape onto tactile surfaces - showing in his work evolved appreciation of religious poetry, myth and spiritual quest.

During his youth, Iranna studied in a Gurukul, where he lived with his guru (teacher) in an ashram for almost seven years. This experience helped him form a strong connection to his cultural roots and centre his works on the inherent dualities of the world that he later explored in his works. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the College of Visual Arts in Gulbarga in 1992 and acquired his Master's degree in painting from the College of Art, New Delhi two years later in 1994.

Although he began painting oil on canvases at the start of his career, Iranna later developed his range of mediums: including gouache and ceramic, before embarking on his now primary use of tarpaulin.

He did his first show in 1992 at the College of Visual Art, Gulbarga and was later the artist-inresidence at Wimbledon School of Art, London between 1999 and 2000. Since then, he was featured in numerous shows extensively, both locally and internationally. He also participated in a myriad of group shows and curated exhibitions through the years, most recently, Indian Blue: Fro Realism to Abstraction at DAG in New Delhi in 2021.

Keen on reinvention, his shift in style and medium observed in his current works are symbolic and characteristic of an artist constantly evolving with the time, breaking away from his own mould and reforming his works to capture the zeitgeist of the times. While there's still a repetition of motifs that can be perceived in his canvases, especially the figures which appeared in his earlier works, it is now less figurative and leaning more towards the form.

The artist lives and works in New Delhi, India.