Riyas Komu[1] is an Indian multimedia artist and curator based in Mumbai. He has invested his time in art education and developing art infrastructure in India. Komu's works are inspired by social conflicts and political movements and topics like migration and displacement. His hyper-realistic oil portraits of people resemble socialist-realist propaganda art, with one of his portraits titled Why Everybody should Look Like Mao.
In 2007, Komu was one of two artists from India selected for the 52nd Venice Biennale by curator Robert Storr.[2][3] Later, he went on to represent the Iranian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2015. Komu also participated in the Jogja Biennale, Indonesia, 2011.
Early life
Riyas completed his Bachelors & Masters in Painting from the Sir J. J. School of Art in Mumbai in 1999. He is the Ideator of Kochi- Muziris Biennale and co-founder of Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation that established in 2010. He co-curated the first edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2012 and has been the Director of Programmes of the Kochi Biennale Foundation in the year of 2012, 2014 and 2016 and in this capacity, he has initiated the Students' Biennale, Children's Biennale (later named as ABC, Art by Children), Artists Cinema, Music of Muziris, Video Lab, Let's Talk series & History Now like Talks and Seminars, Pepper House Residency & Exhibition.
Initiatives
Riyas been the Advisor and Visual Arts Curator for Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa in 2016 & 2017[4] and he has done extensive research trips in sub-continent and conceptualized[5] and curated the 'Young Sub-Continent' project in 2016, 17 & 18 in Goa. He also curated the Kondotty Sufi Festival in 2019. In 2016 he started URU Art Harbour, a cultural hub in Mattancherry, Kochi, (Kerala) and curated shows which promote artists from the region focusing on Local Culture, Kerala's history of social action, Human migration and Maritime History. Uru Art Harbour also provides a well-supported artist in residency which includes exhibition and also engages with international artists. Komu co-curated first International Football Film Festival in India at Goa International Film Festival and Trivandrum International Film Festival in 2012.[6] As an artist, he has many solo shows to his credit which includes, Faith Accompli, Mark Him, Related List, Safe to Light, Holy Shiver & Out of Place.[7] Komu's works have been exhibited globally including South Africa, Brazil, France, Germany, UK, Italy, Korea, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, USA, China, UAE, Belgium, The Netherlands and Iran among others.
Exhibitions
2011
Inde, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Contemporary Art from India, Helsinki Art Museum – The Tennis Palace, Helsinki, Finland
2010
INSIDE INDIA, Palazzo Saluzzo di Paesana, Torino, Italy
Midnight's Children, Studio la Città, Verona, Italy
Beyond Globalization, Beyond Art Space, Beijing, China
Subrato to Cesar by Riyas Komu, Gallery Maskara, Maskara, Mumbai, India (solo)
Safe to Light, Azad Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran (solo)
2009
Beyond Globalization, Beyond Art Space, Beijing, China
Arco Art Fair, Madrid, Spain
Threshold: Forging Narratives in South Asian Contemporary Art, Aicon Gallery, New York City
Indian Popular Culture and beyond Alcala' 31, Madrid, Spain
Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)
2008
Bodhi Berlin, Berlin, Germany (solo)
MARK HIM (Second half), Gallery 88, Kolkata, India (solo)
The Ghost of Souza, inaugural show in Bowery space, Aicon Gallery, New York City
India Crossing, Studio la Città, Verona, Italy
Frontlines: Notations from the Contemporary Indian Urban, Bodhi Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2007–2008
India Arte Oggi, Spazio Oberdan, Milan, Italy
2007
FRAME/GRID/ROOM/CELL, curated by Gayatri Sinha, Bodhi Art, Mumbai, India
Art Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
I Fear, I believe, I desire, Gallery Espace, New Delhi, India
Other, AICON Gallery, London, UK
Annual show, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
52 International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense, 52nd International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale
MARK HIM (First half), The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)
2006
Systematic Citizen, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi, India (solo)
Faith Accompli, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)
Bronze, sculpture show, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
Art on the beach. Made by Indians, Plage de Pamplonne, Ramatuelle, St. Tropez, France
On Difference #2, Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany
Singapore Art Fair, Singapore
Enrico Navarra, Paris, France
Red Earth And The Pouring Rain, Lanxess ABS Gallery, Baroda, India
Viart, New Delhi, India
Strangeness, Anant Art Gallery, Kolkatta, India
2005
Span, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
Endless Terrain, Lalit Kala Academy, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
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