Manjunath Kamath is a versatile artist whose oeuvre includes painting, drawing, digital prints, video, sculpture and installation. His works are often a curious juxtaposition of quotidian elements and glimpses of the commonplace, drawn from his rich repository of visual references. The resultant works are at once humorous, quirky, idiosyncratic and witty, bringing together curious characters and objects in absurd and striking ways.
His compositions have an air of familiarity, given their quotidian contexts, but are nevertheless underlined by mystery and drama, due to their unusual and unexpected juxtapositions. Thus weaving magic into the ordinary, Kamath’s works turn the common place into an space for re-engagement and re-discovery.
Born in Mangalore in 1972, artist Manjunath Kamath obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Sculpture from Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts, Mysore, in 1994 and was an artist-in-residence at the School of Art and Design of the University of Wales, Cardiff, in 2002. Kamath had a solo exhibition, ‘As far as I know’ at the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia in 2016. His work has been part of several important shows including 'India: Side by Side / Indian Contemporary Art’, part of the Exhibition ÍNDIA! presented by Brazilian Ministry of Culture and Bank of Brasil at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro; Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo; SESC Belenzinho, São Paulo and Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Brasília; ‘Finding India,’ at Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei; and 'Go See India', part of India-Sweden Cultural Exchange Program presented by Emami Chisel, Kolkata at Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata; Vasa Konsthal and Gallery-Scandinavia, Gothenburg.