MAHIRWAN MAMTANI´S ART - BlueZeppelin Art Galleries

Biography

I was born in the Indus valley, and after the partition of India in 1947, I migrated to Delhi. Sickness and hunger were dominating experiences. After a long struggle, hard work and self-education, I ultimately started to paint, attending the Delhi School of Art (Delhi Polytechnic). My earliest works depicted all these experiences of suffering. But very soon I became free and open to other cultures. Through exposure to the Bauhaus exhibition and the Max Mueller Bhavan (Goethe-Institut) Library, I became interested in German art and culture (particularly such artists as Kandinsky and Klee). Then after a period of intensive study, I received a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) scholarship in 1966 to study art at the MunichAcademy of Visual Arts. Here I learned not only many painting and graphic techniques, but also found myself in the midst of various currents of creative expression. Kandinsky´s book The Spiritual in Art and Constructivism of the 60s influenced me, as I drew closer to my working conception. Ultimately, a geometrical construction of four circles and a square appeared before my inner eye – the circle symbolising the spiritual world and the square, the material. Since then, this form has become my own inner identity on different levels of consciousness. Later on, through a study of C. G. Jung, I became aware that this geometrical form was a mandala. I travelled throughout the world and found this form existed in almost every culture. I also found other artists who were working and searching in the same direction. The art historian and critic, Dr. Walter Schönenberger of Lugano and Milan, invited me to collaborate on several related projects in Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Thus, I met some contemporary Indian artists (like Biren De, G.R. Santosh, K.C.S. Paniker, P.T. Reddy, Profulla Mohanti, Sohan Qadri, Haridasan, Om Prakash Sharma) who were engaged in Neo Tantra Art . It was Dr. L.P. Sihare of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, who invited me to participate in his programmes in India and other countries. ONE-MAN-EXHIBITIONS (selected) 1964 New Delhi AIFACS Gallery 1967 München, Galerie Stenzel 1967 Augsburg, Ecke Galerie 1967 Mainz, Galerie Winfried Gurlitt 1967 Zürich, Galerie La Fourmi´re 1970 Berlin, modern art galerie 1970 Grenchen, Galerie Toni Brechbühl 1971 Heilbronn, Galerie Rota 1972 München, Kunstverein 1972 Wuppertal, Schauspielhaus 1973 London, CommonwealthInstituteArtGallery 1974 München, Art Galerie Schwabylon 1974 Wuppertal, Galerie Becher 1975 New Delhi, Gallery Chanakya 1976 Heilbronn, Galerie Lee Babel 1979 New Delhi, Gallery Chanakya 1985 München, Galerie Transart 1986 New Delhi, Dhoomimal Art Centre 1988 München, Galerie Rozmarin 1991 New Delhi, Dhoomimal Art Centre 1991 Baroda, Vithi Art Gallery 1993 Hanau, Galerie Neunauge 1994 Zürich, Galerie Gerhard Zähringer 1995 New Delhi, LTG Art Gallery 1998 Landsberg, Stadttheater 2002 Hanau, Galerie Neunauge GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected) 1968 München, Kunstverein 1969 München, Große Kunstausstellung Haus der Kunst 1970 Berlin, Frühjahrsmesse 1970 Basel, Internationale Kunstmesse Galerie Regio 1970 München, Große Kunstausstellung Haus der Kunst 1971 Basel, Mustermesse Galerie Brechbühl/modern art 1971 München, Große Kunstausstellung Haus der Kunst 1971 München, Kunstzone 1971 Köln, Kunstmarkt Galerie Brechbühl/Regio 1972 New Delhi, National Exhibition of Art Lalit Kala Akademi 1972 Basel, Art ´72 – Galerie Brechbühl/Regio 1972 München, Große Kunstausstellung Haus der Kunst 1972 München, Mandala in der zeitgenöss. Kunst 1972 Düsseldorf, Internationaler Markt für aktuelle Kunst 1973 New York, Young Artists ´73 1973 Locarno, Ipotesi per unarte simbolica 1973 Milano, Situazione Simbolo 1973 Düsseldorf, Internationaler Markt für aktuelle Kunst 1973 New Delhi, National Exhibition of Art Lalit Kala 1974 Segovia, Bienal Internacional de Obra Grafica Y ArteSeriado 1975 New Delhi, Third International Triennale-India 1975 Aarau, Aargauer Kunsthaus - Weltanschauung als Bildidee- gemalte Weltschau curated by Dr. Walter Schönenberger 1976 Bochum, Museum Bochum–Weltanschauung als Bildidee- gemalte Weltschau 1976 Tokyo, Musem of Modern Art, International Print Biennial 1976 Nürnberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum,Bild+Text/Text+Bild 1977 Melbourne, Western Pacific Print Biennale 1977 Paris, Salon de Mai 1978 New Delhi, Fourth International Triennale-India 1978 Ljubljana, Moderna Galerija, International Art ´78 1978 Landau, Städt. Galerie (with R.K. Dhawan and Viswanathan) 1979 Tolentino, Biennale Internazionale dell Umorismo nell´Arte 1980 Mannheim, Rosengarten, Surya Galerie curated by Uta Rettberg 1982 Darmstadt, Kunsthalle curated by Edda Bhattacharjee 1982 Bergkamen, 6. bbb – Kunst zum Überleben 1982 Ibiza, X Bienal Internacional 1983 Stuttgart, IFA Forum für Kulturaustausch – Neo-Tantra (with Biren De, G.R. Santosh, Sohan Qadri, Om Prakash Sharma, Proffula Mohanti, Haridasan, P.T. Reddy and others) curated by Dr. L.P. Sihare 1984 München, Große Kunstausstellung Haus der Kunst 1984 Düsseldorf, Kunstmuseum der Stadt Düsseldorf 1984 Wien, Kunsthaus, Bayerische Kunst Heute 1984 Hannover, Kubus an der Aegidienkirche 1984 Oberhausen, Kunstverein Oberhausen 1984 Bayreuth, Iwalewa-Haus Universität Bayreuth 1984 Tokyo, 15th International Art Biennale 1985 Ljubljana, International Art Collection 1986 Los Angeles, Neo-Tantra Wight Art Gallery UCL – curated by Dr. Edith Tonelli 1986 New South Wales, Neo-Tantra-Art 1986 Frankfurt, Buchmesse – Zeitgenössische Indisce Malerei curated by Prof. P.N. Mago 1987 Warsaw, Zeitgenössische Indische Malerei 1987 Moscow/Leningard/Riga, Festival of India 1987 Tolentino, Biennale Internazionale dell Umorismo nell´Arte 1987 München, Transart Galerie, Stille Räume 1988 St. Gallen, Stadttheater 1988 Neumarkt, Steinmühle, Kunst für Lebensräume 1988 Perpignan/France, Biennale Internationale de l´Estampe 1991 Bad Kissingen, Galerie Hirnickel 1991 Köln, Die Weisse Galerie 1993 Tolentino, Biennale Internazionale dell Umorismo nell´Arte 1993 Mainz, Galerie Rathaus, curated by Edda Bhattacharjee 1993 Stettin, Schloß der Pommerschen Fürsten 1995 Tolentino, Biennale Internazionale dell Umorismo nell´Arte 1995 New Delhi, My East is your West, Max Müller Bhavan – Goethe Institut curated by Dr. Georg Lechner 2003 München, The Dual Path of Indian Art Today, Galerie Müller+Plate 2004 München, Indien Institut 75th Anniversary, at Sotheby´s 2004 New Delhi, NRI artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi 2007 New Delhi/Kolkota. Contemporary Art-India 2007 Lamia/Greece, 3rd International Art, Belle Arte Lamia 07 AWARDS 1976 Tokyo, 10th International Print Biennale 1978 New Delhi, National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi contact: Tel. +49-8194-999053 mamtani@hotmail.de http://www.MahirwanMamtani.com
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Appreciations

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