L. N. Tallur (b. 1971, Koteswara, Karnataka, India) received a BFA in Painting from Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (1996), an MFA in Museology from Maharaja Sayyajirao University (1998), and an MA in Contemporary Fine Art Practice from Leeds Metropolitan University (2002). Working across sculpture, wall-based works, interactive projects, and site-specific installations, Tallur exposes the absurdities of everyday life and the anxieties that characterize contemporary society. His practice fuses handmade craftsmanship, found objects, and organic and industrial materials, often drawing on symbols of a transforming India to create resonances between traditional and contemporary systems of belief. The New York Times described his work as “like a miniature curiosity cabinet, hand-assembled down to the smallest detail and packed with charmed and puzzling surprises.”

Tallur’s work has been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions in Germany, South Korea, India, China, and the United States. Major institutional projects include Interference Fringe, curated by Gary Garrido Schneider at Grounds for Sculpture, New Jersey (2019–2020); Chirag-e-AI, Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), Bengaluru (2022); and permanent installations at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai (2024), Linden Museum, Stuttgart (2023), and Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (2023). Other solo shows include SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah (2013), and Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai (2011).

Nature Morte has presented multiple solo exhibitions of Tallur’s including Neti-Neti; Glitch in the Code (2024), UKAI (Cormorant Fish Hunting) (2014), Pass word (2012), Chromatophobia: The Fear of Money (2011), and a solo show at Nature Morte, Berlin (2012).

Tallur currently lives and works between Kundapur, Karnataka, and Daegu, South Korea.

Ramakrishna Behera

Pikillaqta, 2018