Nalini Malani’s overtly political works, including Untitled (Women Series), incorporate themes of gender, race, class, and the partition of the subcontinent from a feminist perspective. Malani, a Partition refugee born in Karachi and brought up in Calcutta, used art to question issues, especially those related to marginalised identities. This canvas uses natural, earthy tones to depict an exhausted looking woman. Hands resting on her torso, the figure’s head tilts to the side, mouth open. Paintings and drawings such as this are indicative of Malani’s earlier career.
published references
Tulli, Neville, The Flamed Mosaic: Indian Contemporary Painting (Ahmedabad: The Tulli Foundation for Holisitc Education & Art (Heart) with Mapin Publishing, 1997), p. 146 Karode, Roobina, ed., Manifestations IV (New Delhi: DAG, 2010), p. 108 Singh, Kishore, ed., A Visual History of Indian Modern Art, Volume VII: Alternate Sensibilities (New Delhi: DAG, 2015), p. 1185 Singh, Kishore, ed., India’s French Connection: Indian Artists in France (New Delhi: DAG, 2018), pp. 402-03 Singh, Kishore, ed., Ways of Seeing: Women Artists | Women as Muse (New Delhi: DAG, 2021), p. 109
Nalini Malani
Untitled (Women Series)
1974
Oil on canvas
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Nalini Malani
Untitled (Women Series)
1974
Oil on canvas
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