Nature Morte is pleased to present a solo show of paintings by Ramakrishna Behera. This will be the artist’s first solo show in Mumbai, having exhibited works with Nature Morte in New Delhi in 2010, 2016 and 2022.

While many artists are at a loss for subjects to paint, Behera knows no such difficulties. An enthusiastic traveler, he ventures to specific locations to investigate historical monuments, natural marvels, geological strata, and the expansive sky which blankets it all. The destinations which inspired the works in our current exhibition span the globe from Australia to South America to China.

With Behera’s paintings the viewer finds himself within a vortex with scant attention paid to gravity or rational thought. We experience the artist’s experience of visiting a site, in all its complexities, where multiple viewpoints and elements converge over time. The subject of Behera’s works is the relativity of simultaneity, the principle that empirical observation is not absolute and depends on the observer’s frame of reference. For a body to move through three-dimensional space implies the fourth-dimension of time. While appearing somewhat surreal, Behera’s paintings actually posit a hyper-real scenario for picturing a more complex experience of space and time than from the single vantage of a solitary individual.

Ramakrishna Behera (born Odisha, 1977) received his BA in Chemical Engineering from IIT, Roorkee (1996–2000) and works as a Chemical Engineer with the Indian Oil Corporation Limited. His solo exhibitions were held at Nature Morte, The Oberoi, Gurgaon; Bose Pacia Gallery, New York; Seven Art Gallery, Delhi; Bose Pacia Gallery, Kolkata; Contemplate Gallery, Coimbatore; and the All India Fine Arts and Craft Society (AIFACS), New Delhi. Behera has participated in group exhibitions at Nature Morte, New Delhi; Bakul Art Fest, Lalit Kala Akademi, Bhubaneswar, Orissa; Mon Art Gallery, Kolkata; WWF India Secretariat, New Delhi; and Lalit Kala Akademi, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa. He currently lives and works in Bongaigaon, Assam.