Nature Morte is pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by Mona Rai entitled, Heed the Portent. Mona Rai, who was born in New Delhi in 1947, the city where she continues to live and work. Ms. Rai is very much an iconoclast in the context of contemporary art in India, remaining steadfastly committed to an aggressive form of abstraction within a milieu that is very much dominated by decorative and figurative painting. She explores the expressive potentials of different materials such as metallic foils, fabrics, glitter, sand, gravel, dirt and ash in her paintings and works on paper. Her process is rooted in risk-taking. Many of her works resemble battlegrounds: scorched, trampled, slit, wounded, scratched, scarred, bleeding, and weeping, to rend objects into emotional states and aesthetic challenges. At other times, she creates shimmering fields of colors that dazzle and oscillate in the light, with imagery informed by craft production and ritual art forms found in multiple religious contexts. On view will be a group of works dating from 1976 to 2008, illustrating the depth of Ms. Rai’s practice with diverse media on canvas, while eschewing any convenient recognition as “painting,” per se. The language of Ms. Rai’s abstraction is derived equally from expressionism and minimalism, achieving a sense of polyphony.

Mona Rai received a Master’s Degree in Psychology from Delhi University and studied painting at Triveni Kala Sangam, also in New Delhi and where she held her first solo show in 1974. In the course of her expansive career, Rai has participated in multiple national and international shows including Nature Morte, New Delhi (2021, 2017, 2014, 2010, 2004); Gallery Maya, London (2006); Gallery F.I.A., Amsterdam (1997, 1993); Gallery Espace, New Delhi (1992); Gallery Augustine, Hofheim, Germany (1991); Sakshi Gallery, Madras (1991); Gallery Aurobindo, New Delhi (1988); Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi (1980, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1975, 1974) and Gallery Chemould, Mumbai (1979). She has also shown at Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, (2001-2002); BK Kunstforum, Dusseldorf (2001-2002); Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, Cheltenham, UK (1995-1996); National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (1986); Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan (1984); 9th Norwegian International Print Triennial, Norway (1989); Bharat Bhawan Biennial, Bhopal (1988); the 17th International Biennial of Graphic Art, Yugoslavia (1987); and the 15th Tokyo Biennale (1984). Mona Rai is represented exclusively by Nature Morte, New Delhi.