Description
About the artist
Manoj Kachangal grew up in a small village in Madhya Pradesh, and it was there, in the very midst of Nature, that he began his artistic journey; it is not surprising, then, that Nature continues to be his most important influence. In fact, the artist recollects that the first paintings he created, before enrolling at the Institute of Fine Arts, Indore, were those he painted on the walls on his mud hut with flowers and other natural pigments like geru. After hosting his first solo exhibition in 1998, Kachangal has held numerous solo shows, most recently at Gallery Pioneer, New Delhi, in 2009; ‘The Doors of Perception’ at the Visual Arts Gallery, New Delhi, in 2008; ‘In Search of the Abyss’ at Mon Art Gallerie, Kolkata, in 2008; and ‘Antaryatra’ presented by Marvel Art Gallery at the Nehru Centre, Mumbai, in 2007. Kanchangal’s work has also been exhibited as a part of several group shows including ‘Contemporary Indian Art’ at Galerie Muller & Plate, Munich; ‘Millennium Turks’ at Hotel Trident Hilton, Gurgaon; ‘Rainbows in the Sun’ at the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; and ‘Homage to Swaminathan’ at the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi, all in 2008. Kachangal was awarded the Meera Gupta Merit Scholarship, Indore, in 2003 and 2004; the Raza Award from the Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad, Bhopal, in 2001; and a Bronze Medal at ‘Avantika’, the 7th All India Art Exhibition, Gwalior, in 1999.