ABOUT THE ARTIST
Vivan Sundaram (28 May 1943 – 29 March 2023) was an Indian contemporary artist. He worked in
many different medias, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, installation, and video
art, and his work was politically conscious and highly intertextual in nature. His work constantly referred
to social problems, popular culture, problems of perception, memory, identification and history. He was
married to art historian and critic Geeta Kapur.
Sundaram was born in Simla, Simla Hill States, British Raj in 1943. His parents were Kalyan Sundaram,
Chairman of Law Commission of India from 1968 to 1971, and Indira Sher-Gil, sister of noted
Hungarian-Jewish Indian modern artist Amrita Sher-Gil. Sundaram was educated at The Doon School,
where he was briefly tutored by Doon’s first art teacher and the Bengal School of Art painter, Sudhir
Khastgir. He then went to the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, and at Slade
School of London (1966-68) where he also studied history of cinema.He was active in the students’
movement of May 1968.He helped set up a commune in London where he lived till 1970. On his return
to India in 1971, he worked with artists’ and students’ groups to organize events and protests, especially
during the Emergency years.In London he met the British-American painter R. B. Kitaj,under whom he
trained for some time.
Sundaram worked in many different media,
including painting, sculpture, printmaking,
photography, installation, and video art,
and his work was politically conscious and
highly intertextual in nature.His works in the
1980s showed a tendency towards figurative
representations, and dealt with problems of
identity. His works constantly refer to social
problems, popular culture, problems of
perception, memory, and history. He was
among the first Indian artists to work with
installation.His later installations and videos
often refer to his artistic influences, among
them are Dadaism, Surrealism, as well as
latterly Fluxus[5] and the works of Joseph
Beuys.
