H. G. Arunkumar

H.G. Arunkumar was born in 1968 in Karnataka, and completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Fine Art, specializing in sculpture, from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda. Over the years, he has developed an environmentally conscious practice that explores the relationship between an ever-growing consumerist culture and the resultant degradation of natural resources. The vessels to express this concern are often cast forms that reference processes of mass production, while his choice of materials in which this theme manifests, alludes to the environmental cost implicit in their creation. 

The nandi or bull has been a recurrent motif in Arunkumar’s oeuvre that superbly conveys his artistic preoccupations. A venerated animal that metaphorically suggests growth and flourishment, his nandis are often sculpted in recycled materials. The material here becomes a trope for the notion of sustainability, while symbol of the bull recalls the complex relationship between man and the natural world. Taking off from here, Arunkumar’s artistic oeuvre goes on to raise concerns about ecological imbalances, ethical questions of genetic engineering as well as the politics of agricultural monopolies.

Arunkumar’s works have been included in such important exhibitions as ‘Sculpture by the Sea,’ Sculpture Biennale Aarhus, Denmark; ‘The Eye and The Mind: New Interventions in Contemporary Indian Art,’ China; ‘Beyond Limits,’ San Diego Art Institute, USA; and ‘Crossing Space,’ Kunsthalle Faust, Hannover, Germany amongst others. 

He works and lives in New Delhi.