Mona Rai (b. 1947, New Delhi, India) received a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in 1970 and a Master’s degree in Psychology at Delhi University in the early 1970s. She later studied art at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, in the late 1970s.

Her work has been presented in major institutional exhibitions in India and abroad, including at the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti di Torino, Italy; the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg; BK Kunstforum, Düsseldorf; Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, UK; the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; and the Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan. She has also participated in international biennials and triennials such as the 9th Norwegian International Print Triennial, Norway (1989); the Bharat Bhavan Biennial, India (1988); the 17th International Biennial of Graphic Art, Yugoslavia (1987); and the 15th Tokyo Biennale, Japan (1984).

Her works are represented in significant public collections, including the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; and the Bharat Bhavan Museum, Bhopal.

Nature Morte has presented several solo exhibitions of her work, including Ashes and Diamonds (2025, Mumbai), Heed the Portent (2023, New Delhi and New York), Mona Rai & Ray Meeker: Works on Paper & Ceramic Sculptures (2021, New Delhi), My Play Zero (2017, New Delhi), Verk (2010, New Delhi), and The New Map of the World (2004, New Delhi).

The gallery also published the monograph, The Blinking Eye of the Universe in 2025, documenting Rai’s works on paper from over five decades.

She currently lives and works in New Delhi, India.

Mona Rai

A Thousand Smiles, 2017