Vivan Sundaram facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vivan Sundaram
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Sundaram in 2012
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| Born | 28 May 1943 Simla, Simla Hill States, British Raj
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| Died | 29 March 2023 (aged 79) New Delhi, India
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| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | The Doon School Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda Slade School of Fine Art, London |
| Spouse(s) | Geeta Kapur |
Vivan Sundaram (born May 28, 1943 – died March 29, 2023) was a famous Indian artist. He created art using many different ways. These included painting, making sculptures, photography, and even video art. His artworks often explored important social topics. He was married to Geeta Kapur, who is an art expert.
Early Life and Learning
Vivan Sundaram was born in Simla, India, in 1943. His father, Kalyan Sundaram, was a high-ranking government official. His mother, Indira Sher-Gil, was the sister of a well-known Indian artist named Amrita Sher-Gil.
Vivan went to The Doon School when he was young. There, he learned art from a famous painter, Sudhir Khastgir. Later, he studied art at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda. He also went to the Slade School in London from 1966 to 1968. While in London, he also learned about the history of movies.
He was part of student protests in May 1968. He even helped start a shared living space in London. He lived there until 1970. When he came back to India in 1971, he worked with other artists and students. They organized events and protests, especially during a difficult time in India's history. In London, he also met and learned from the painter R. B. Kitaj.
His Amazing Artworks
Vivan Sundaram was very creative and used many different types of art. He made paintings, sculptures, and prints. He also used photography, video, and something called installation art. Installation art means creating a large art piece in a specific space. His art often talked about important social issues. It also connected to many different ideas and stories.
In the 1980s, his art often showed people and things clearly. These works explored ideas about who we are. His art always looked at social problems and popular culture. It also made people think about how we see things, remember, and understand the past. He was one of the first Indian artists to create installation art.
Later, his installations and videos were inspired by other art movements. These included Dadaism and Surrealism. He was also influenced by Fluxus and the works of Joseph Beuys.
Here are some of his famous art projects:
- Re-take of ‘Amrita’ was a series of black and white digital pictures. He made them from old family photos of the Sher-Gil family. Vivan changed these photos to tell new stories about his family. His grandfather, Umrao Singh, had taken the original pictures.
- Memorial (1993, 2014) was a large art piece. He made it after sad events happened in Mumbai. He also created a huge installation at the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta. This work was later made into a book called History Project (1998).
- He continued to work on his family's story. This included an installation called The Sher-Gil Archive (1995). He also made more digital pictures, Re-take of ‘Amrita’ (2001–06).
- Vivan Sundaram also created art using everyday objects he found. One project was Trash (2008). It was an art piece showing a city scene made of garbage. He also made digital pictures and three videos: Tracking (2003–04), The Brief Ascent of Marian Hussain (2005), and Turning (2008).
- He used garbage and found materials to make clothes. This led to art that mixed fashion and performance. These works were called GAGAWAKA: Making Strange (2011) and Postmortem (2013).
- In 2012, he created Black Gold. This was an installation made from broken pottery pieces. These pieces were found during digs in Kerala. He also made a three-channel video about it.
- He worked with theatre directors Anuradha Kapur and Santanu Bose on a project about artist Ramkinkar Baij. It was called 409 Ramkinkars (2015).
- In 2017, he made a public art project called Meanings of Failed Action: Insurrection 1946. This project was about the uprising of the Royal Indian Navy and workers in Mumbai. He worked with Ashish Rajadhyaksha and David Chapman on this.
- A big show of his art, covering 50 years, was held in New Delhi in 2018. It was called ‘Step inside and you are no longer a stranger’.
- Another show, ‘Disjunctures’, was held in Munich from 2018 to 2019.
- Most recently, Vivan Sundaram was one of 30 artists asked to create new art for the Sharjah Biennial in 2023. His photography project, Six Stations of a Life Pursued (2022), was part of this show.
- In 2016, Sundaram started the Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF). He created it with his sister, Navina Sundaram.
His Passing
Vivan Sundaram passed away in New Delhi on March 29, 2023. He was 79 years old. He was married to the art expert and writer Geeta Kapur.
