Manish Moitra

Manish Moitra’s works are flamboyant, wildly colourful and often dense with details, juxtaposing urban milieus with untamed wilderness, animals with humans, ancient history and contemporary life, and civilisation and nature. The Kolkata-based artist displays a wide range of influences from the French painter Henry Matisse to Bengal woodcut prints and of course, the miniature tradition. Moitra builds on the age-old techniques of Indian miniatures, revitalising them with his unique contemporary aesthetics. Instead of Rajput and Mughal figures or palaces and gardens, his acrylics-on-canvas typically feature modern, urban interiors and people alongside large butterflies, wandering penguins, languid dogs and cats, and relics from older eras. Representing a curious intersection of art, culture and nature, Moitra’s works make tongue-in-cheek statements about the ideas of space, identity, belonging and modern life.