Balan Nambiar

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Balan Nambiar
Balan nambiar's sculpture studio in 2005.jpg
Balan Nambiar's sculpture studio in 2005
Born (1937-11-12) 12 November 1937 (age 86)
NationalityIndian
Known forPaintings, sculptures, researches on ritual art
Notable workValampiri Shanka, The Sky is the Limit
AwardsIndia National award for sculpture, Nehru fellowship for research

Balan Nambiar (born 12 November 1937 in Kannapuram) is an Indian painter, sculptor, enamellist, photographer and an academic researcher.

Contents

Biography

Kadamkottu Makkam and Chiru Teyyams Kadamkottu Makkam and Chiru Teyyams, photo by Balan Nambiar.jpg
Kadamkottu Makkam and Chiru Teyyams

As a sculptor he worked with clay, fiberglass reinforced concrete, wood, bronze, mild steel and, from 2000, stainless steel. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Many of his works are outdoor sculptures; some are monumental. [6] He produced enamel paintings, [7] [8] having learned the technique from Paolo De Poli of Padua, Italy. [9] His creative works were exhibited in national and international art exhibitions, including Venice Biennale in 1982, [10] [11] Constructa-78 in Hannover in 1978, Triennale India in New Delhi in 1975. [12] Works by him are in the permanent collection of many museums.

Balan Nambiar has extensively studied, photographed and documented hundreds of ritual performances and art forms of the Indian west coast as Teyyam and Bhuta. [13] Articles and photographs by him are published in books. Around 1800 of his photographs have been acquired by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, [14] New Delhi. [15]

He received awards both for creative works and academic research: India National Award in 1981 and Karnataka State Award in 1980 of Lalit Kala Academy (National Academy of Fine Arts) for his sculptures, Senior Fellowship of the India Ministry of Culture in 1982–83 and Nehru Fellowship of Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund in 1983–85 [16] for academic research, Academy Fellowship of the Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy in 2005 for creative works, [17] Pravasi Kalaratna Fellowship of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi in 2013 for painting. [18] The Government of Kerala awarded him the 2014 Raja Ravi Verma Puraskaram, the highest state award in the art category, in 2015. [19] National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore held the retrospective of six decades of work by Nambiar in February 2018, which was curated by Sadanand Menon

He has been chairman of the Lalit Kala Academi, New Delhi, [20] member of the General Council of Lalit Kala Academy, [21] member of the Central Advisory Board on Culture, India. [22]

Major works

Sculpture for Timken, 2004 2004 Timken sculpture 620x90x60 cm. photo by Balan Nambiar.jpg
Sculpture for Timken, 2004
Poetry in architecture, 2004 Poetry in architecture A 75x64x44 cm. 2004 photo by Balan Nambiar.JPG
Poetry in architecture, 2004
The Sky is the Limit, 2010 The Sky is the Limit - IOC heigth 6.3m 2010 photo by BalanNambiar.JPG
The Sky is the Limit, 2010

Collections

See more in Shrishti Art Gallery, India. [35]

Publications on ritual art

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