Jagannath Panda

Jagannath Panda is an acclaimed Indian artist known for his diverse body of work that encompasses intricate mixed-media paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Within his creations, he skillfully merges elements of mythology with reality, seamlessly blending motifs derived from traditional Indian art alongside imagery sourced from Western and Indian contemporary culture.

Biography of the Jagannath Panda

Jagannath Panda was born in 1970 in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. He obtained his BFA from the B.K. College of Arts & Crafts, Bhubaneshwar, in 1991, followed by an MFA from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda, in 1994. In 2002, he completed an MFA in sculpture from the Royal College of Arts, London.

Since 1998, he has had significant solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Mumbai, New Delhi, London, Berlin, and San Francisco. He has also been featured in group shows at esteemed institutions such as the Jeju World Natural Heritage Center, Korea; Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; the Modern Art Museum, Shanghai; and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, among others.

Panda's artworks can be found in several notable collections, including the Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai; Mori Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan; Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Hindustan Times, New Delhi; and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi.

Jagannath Panda has received recognition for his work, having been a visiting researcher at Fukuoka University of Education, Fukuoka, Japan, in 1997. He was also a recipient of the Lalit Kala Akademi Research Fellowship, Orissa State Lalit Kala Akademi Scholarship, and Junior Research Fellowship from the Government of India. Jagannath Panda has been honored with various awards, including the Centre Prize, C.I.I.C London; All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society Award, New Delhi; Alice Boner Memorial Award; and the All India Drawing Award from Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi and Orissa State Lalit Kala Akademi.

Currently, Jagannath Panda resides and works in New Delhi.

Jagannath Panda's Art Style

Jagannath Panda explores the conflict between knowledge and faith in his works. Social and environmental concerns are central to his artistic practice. By juxtaposing diverse materials within a single work, he can speak through multiple voices. Everyday objects are elevated to symbolic stature, representing communities, aspirations, or even dogmas. Collage and assemblage, divorced from their Surrealist origins, function as memory and mirror reflecting a contradictory reality.

Animals also hold a significant place in Panda's artistic vocabulary. Without anthropomorphizing them, he employs birds and beasts to represent the human condition and the continuum of life. These creatures become the actors in Panda's morality play, where he dramatically stages an enchanted universe in which modern rationality has only the most tenuous hold.

He delves into various themes, including the human and natural worlds, death and desire, social and economic inequalities, issues of urbanization and dislocation, as well as shifts in cultural and religious paradigms. Through his art, he skillfully presents contradictory elements, revealing the ruptures in our understanding of these complex subjects.