Emerging from Kerala’s left-leaning cultural sphere, Nityan Unnikrishnan’s paintings are primal, surreal, deeply psychological. Drawing upon the depth of imagination and memory, as well as the art historical canon, Unnikrishnan’s paintings draw us into a chaotic but cohesive universe.
Unnikrishnan's practice is in deep conversation with the figurative painting canon of contemporary India, evoking Bhupen Khakhar and Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, while also strongly gesturing to Hieronymus Bosch. "Chorus" unveils the artist's creative consciousness as a landscape of hybridity, bringing together various cultural references and glimpses of human experience. The work simultaneously is a portrait of contemporary India, the artist's mind, and the wider universe across this powerful, dense composition.
Unnikrishnan's practice is in deep conversation with the figurative painting canon of contemporary India, evoking Bhupen Khakhar and Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, while also strongly gesturing to Hieronymus Bosch. "Chorus" unveils the artist's creative consciousness as a landscape of hybridity, bringing together various cultural references and glimpses of human experience. The work simultaneously is a portrait of contemporary India, the artist's mind, and the wider universe across this powerful, dense composition.