T. Venkanna
Born 1980, Gajwel, India.
Venkanna holds a Masters in Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in printmaking from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University of Baroda and Bachelors in Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in painting from J.N.T.U, Hyderabad where he was awarded a Gold medal. The artist was born in 1980 in Gajwel and lives and works in Baroda, India.
Venkanna had his ninth solo show in 2022 titled AS I AM curated by Abhay Maskara at Gallery Maskara. In 2019 the artist had a solo show titled LOVE ME curated by Abhay Maskara at Gallery Maskara. Earlier in the same year the artist had a solo project Tradition/Transformation curated by Abhay Maskara at Gallery Maskara. In 2018 Venkanna participated in an exhibition Inde, Manoir de Martigny, Switzerland. In 2017 he had his seventh solo show Looking for Peace, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India. In 2016 he was part of a group show TIME, Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India. In 2015 he had his sixth solo show CELEBRATION at Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India. In 2014 his shows include Residual Remnants, Site art space, Baroda, India; Midnight's Grandchildren curated by Girish Shahane, Kitab Mahal, Mumbai; Trajectories: 19th-21st Century Printmaking from India and Pakistan curated by Dr. Paula Sengupta and Camilla H. Chaudhary, Sharjah Art Museum, UAE. Major shows in 2012-13 include Air Sri Lanka, Galerie Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna, Austria, Lunch with Olympia, curated by Robert Storr, Yale University School of Art, CT, USA, Between the Lines: Identity, Place, and Power, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai, India, Pancha Mahabhuta (The Five Great Elements) at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi, India, Cynical Love: Life in the Everyday curated by Gayatri Sinha at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Noida, India,a solo presentation at Art Brussels 30th Contemporary Art Fair, ProjectStage at Art Stage Singapore, the India Art Fair, India, the VIP Art Fair, (online). In 2011, Venkanna presented a controversial solo performance at Art Stage Singapore and was part of New Trends from South India, at the Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai, India. Other key projects during the year included; CROSSROADS: India escalate (India Pavilion) at the Prague Biennale 5, Czech Republic, a solo presentation at the Art Brussels 29th Contemporary Art Fair, Belgium, Fabular Bodies, curated by Gayatri Sinha for the Harmony Art Foundation, Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai, India, Printmaking: Open Studio, at Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India, (M)other India at Galerie du Jour – Agnès B, Paris, France and Window in the Wall, Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai, China. In 2010 his work was part of Finding India: Art for the New Century, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Taipei, Taiwan. His solo show, NERO opened at Gallery Luce in Torino, Italy and he simultaneously showed at Artissima 17 Torino, Italy. He was also the youngest artist featured in the Saatchi Gallery show The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today, London, UK.
The artist was shortlisted for the SKODA prize in 2010 and 2012. His works are in major collections including the Charles Saatchi collection (UK), the Burger Collection (Switzerland/Hong Kong), Swagemakers collection (Netherlands) and many more in America, Japan, Russia Europe and India.