Nalini Malani

Nalini Malani (b. 1946 - ) is a contemporary Indian artist, who extends the concept of "painting beyond the frame" into video plays and video/shadow plays. Her body of work includes painting, video, and installation art. Much of her work is about the middle area between two points, such as being between two places or between two identities. Born in Karachi in 1946, Malani moved to India as a refugee after the Partition of India. Malani moved to the eastern Indian city of Calcutta, now known as Kolkata, shortly before partition. She and her family settled in Mumbai in 1958. Her family's experience of leaving behind their home and becoming refugees during that time informs Malani's artworks. Malani studied Fine Arts in Mumbai and obtained a Diploma in Fine Arts from Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art. During this period, she had a studio in the Bhulabhai Memorial Institute, Bombay, where artists, musicians, dancers and theater persons worked individually and collectively. She received a scholarship from the French Government to study fine arts in Paris from 1970-72. She was also a recipient of the Art Fellowship from the Government of India from 1984-89. She has also had residencies in various parts of India, the USA, Japan and Italy. After Malani graduated from JJ arts school in 1969, she spent a few years working with photography and film. The themes she explored during this period dealt with the turbulent time that India was experiencing politically and socially, as well the deepening literacy of moving image by its population. From 1990s, Malani actively started producing work that would be shown extensively in galleries. She is often counted amongst the earliest to transition from traditional painting to new media work. Her 1992 in her path-breaking installation “City of Desires,” at the Chemould Gallery in Mumbai saw her draw directly on the walls. For two-dimensional works, she uses both oil paintings and watercolors, sometimes referencing Hindu scriptures