Geometric and infinite

A travelling exhibition is showcasing over 40 works of Nasreen Mohamedi, considered to be one of the subcontinent's most significant female abstract artist

Nasreen Mohamedi

The art gallery of Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts at Panaji, Goa, recently hosted the works of the artist Nasreen Mohamedi (1937–1990). The show ‘Nasreen Mohamedi: From The Glenbarra Art Museum’ brings together over 40 works of Mohamedi for the first time, including paintings, drawings, collages, and photographs from the 1960s until the 1980s.

This is a travelling exhibition and art lovers are getting a rare chance to see Mohamedi’s vast collection from close quarters. It moved through 11 cities across Europe, and North America, and was launched in Goa on October 14, 2022.

Mohamedi, considered as the subcontinent’s most significant female abstract artist, has broken away from the milieu of representational art pervasive in post-independence India. Her vision was as infinite as her line drawings and her soulful expressions weaved the narrative of modernity through abstract geometric and architectural shapes.

Mohamedi, who was born in Karachi and raised in Mumbai, grew up in a cosmopolitan and refined atmosphere. She was one of the most significant artists within the modernist tradition, with her work receiving great critical acclaim internationally in recent years.

After studying art at Central Saint Martin’s in London, Mohamedi worked in Europe before returning to India in the early 1970s and joining the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda. It was here that she worked alongside many notable artists and began to develop her abstraction, producing small-scale, geometric drawings, painstakingly composed on an architect’s table using pencil and pen.

The exhibition is on in New Delhi till April 4, 2023.