Bhupen Khakhar

Bhupen Khakhar was an Indian artist who was a member of the Baroda Group and gained international recognition for his work as "India's first 'Pop' artist". He was a self-trained artist, and started his career as a painter relatively late in his life. His works were figurative in nature, concerned with the human body and its identity. An openly gay artist, the problem of gender definitions and gender identity were major themes of his work. His paintings often contained references to Indian mythology and mythological themes. Khakhar was born in Bombay and had three siblings. The Khakhars were originally artisans who came from the Portuguese colony of Diu. Khakhar was the first of his family to attend the University of Bombay, where he studied B.A. At his family's insistence he went on to take a Bachelor of Commerce from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics and qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Khakhar worked as an accountant for many years partnering with Bharat Parikh & Associates in Baroda Gujarat India, pursuing his artistic inclinations in his free time. He became well versed in Hindu mythology and literature, and well informed about the visual arts. In 1958, Khakhar met Gujarati poet and painter Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, who encouraged Khakar to visit the newly founded Faculty of Fine Arts in Baroda. Khakhar's oil paintings were often narrative and autobiographical. His first exhibited works presented deities cut from popular prints, glued onto mirrors, supplemented by graffiti and gestural marks. He began to mount solo exhibitions as early as 1965. Though the artist had been largely self-taught, his work soon garnered attention and critical praise. By the 1980s, Khakhar was enjoying solo shows in places as far away as London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Tokyo. The artist's work celebrated the day to day struggles of India's common man. Khakhar's early paintings depicted average people, such as the barber, the watch repairman, and even an assistant accountant with whom he worked. The painter took special care to reproduce the environments of small Indian shops in these paintings, and revealed a talent for seeing the intriguing within the mundane. His work has been compared to that of David Hockney. He was a long standing personal friend of Howard Hodgkin who regularly came to stay with him after meeting in 1975. Though he was influenced by the British Pop movement, Khakhar understood that western versions of Pop Art would not have the same resonance in India. Khakhar's often openly homosexual themes attracted special notice. Homosexuality was something that at the time was rarely addressed in India. He depicted scenes of love and intimacy between men with honesty and courage. He also explored his own vulnerability and mortality in his paintings, especially after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998. He unflinchingly portrayed the pain and indignity he suffered as a result of the disease. Khakhar died in Baroda in 2003 at the age of 69. He was honoured with several awards during his lifetime, including the Padma Shri (Indian Government's award for excellence) in 1984, the Asian Council's Starr Foundation Fellowship in 1986, and the Prince Claus Award at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam in 2000. His work has been exhibited widely across the world and is part of many public and private collections. He is regarded as one of the most influential Indian artists of the 20th century and a pioneer of narrative and figurative painting in contemporary Indian art.