Solo exhibition
Indian abstract painter · Indore
Creation
comes first.
Senior FellowshipAwarded by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India
View selected works ↘01 — Practice
For Ramesh Kher, painting is not the record of something already seen. It is a way of arriving at sight.
Across a practice spanning more than five decades, creation remains both departure and return. Kher’s abstract works—documented in mixed media on paper and canvas—allow recognition to follow the act of making. The painting becomes the place where sight is discovered.
Discover the practice ↗Studio philosophy
Creation precedes
recognition.
Kher’s practice begins without demanding a finished image. Meaning gathers through the act itself—through making, looking, returning, and making again.
- 01
Creation first
The work begins before its destination is known.
- 02
Nature as origin
Nature creates first, then turns to witness what has appeared.
- 03
Painting as seeing
Vision is discovered within the process, not imposed before it.
- 04
Return
Each painting leads back to the necessity of painting again.
02 — Nature works
Selected works
Artist’s studio archive
03 — The practice
1973 — present
Painting
& seeing
“The road of my satisfaction begins with the creation of art and returns to the same.” For Kher, painting is a process of discovery: the work comes into being before it is fully known.
Read the artist statement ↗Plate 05 — Studio view
The work
in progress.
Process, attention, return.
Indore, India.
Artist’s archive.
Studio view
Ramesh Kher at work · Indore.
Artist’s archive
04 — The artist
The work comes first.
Ramesh Kher was born on 23 April 1950 in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. He received his National Diploma in Fine Art from the Government College of Fine Art, Indore, in 1973.
Over more than five decades, Kher has developed a sustained painting practice grounded in intuition and discovery. He describes his method as “painting and seeing” rather than “seeing and painting”: creation precedes recognition, and the act itself reveals what the work must become.
His work has been presented at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Triveni Art Gallery, New Delhi; Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal; Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; and in exhibitions and art fairs across India and internationally.
Artist statement
View career archive ↗“Nature creates first and then takes a glimpse of it. Perhaps that is why I believe in painting and seeing instead of seeing and painting. The road of my satisfaction begins with the creation of art and returns to the same. This is why I paint again and again.”
05 — Selected history
Exhibitions
& milestones
05
Solo exhibitions
Triveni Art Gallery
New Delhi · 2005, 2009, 2012, 2014Solo exhibition
Jehangir Art Gallery
MumbaiSolo exhibitions
Madhya Pradesh Kala Parishad
Bhopal · 1977, 1979, 1989Solo exhibition
Devlalikar Art Gallery
IndoreSelected institutional records
- Bharat BhavanBhopal
- Lalit Kala AkademiNew Delhi
- Jehangir Art GalleryMumbai
- Triveni Art GalleryNew Delhi
- M. P. Kala ParishadBhopal
- Taj Art Gallery, Taj Mahal Heritage HotelMumbai
- Bombay Art SocietyMumbai
- Academy of Fine ArtsKolkata
- Birla AcademyKolkata
- AIFACS GalleryNew Delhi
- Chitrakala ParishadBangalore
- Jawahar Kala KendraJaipur
- TAO Art GalleryMumbai
- Pinakin Patel StudioAlibaug
- Amdavad Ni GufaAhmedabad
- Kalidas AcademyUjjain
06 — Living archive
Five decades
of practice.
Selected exhibitions, honours, participations, and collections. A complete curriculum vitae is available to galleries, curators, and researchers on request.
Selected exhibitions
- 59th National Exhibition of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
- Jaipur Art Fair, Jaipur
- 56th National Exhibition of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
- Jaipur Art Summit; Khajuraho Art Mart
- Imago Mundi Biennial
- 11th Harmony Art Show, Mumbai
- Dubai Art Fair, United Arab Emirates
- Somar Art Gallery, San Francisco; Art Today, New Delhi, curated by M. F. Husain
- Bharat Bhavan Biennials, Bhopal
Selected honours
- Awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India
- Meera Kala Samman
- 37th All India Tapa Samman, Kalidas Academy, Ujjain
- Achal Alayas Award, Ujjain
- All India Kalidas Art Exhibition awards, Ujjain
- Madhya Pradesh State Exhibition awards
Education
- National Diploma in Fine Art, Government College of Fine Art, Indore
Public collections
- Roopankar Museum of Fine Art, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal
- Madhya Pradesh State Art Gallery, Bhopal
- Government College of Fine Art, Indore
- Jabalpur College of Art
- Nehru Kala Kendra, Lalbagh Palace, Indore
- Taj Group of Hotels
- Hotel Trident, Jaipur
- Private and corporate collections in India and abroad
Publication
- Featured in Reader’s Digest
For collectors, curators & designers
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about the work.
For artwork availability, exhibition proposals, collection research, and catalogue requests, please contact the studio.
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