Gigi Scaria

b. 1973, in Kerala, India

Gigi Scaria’s works span a diverse range of media, including painting, photography, installation art, sculpture, and video – a testament to his creative versatility.

Growing up in Kothanalloor, a village in southern Kerala, Scaria began his artistic journey in 1995 with formal training at the College of Fine Arts in Thiruvananthapuram, where he earned his B.F.A. in painting. He further honed his skills at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, obtaining an M.F.A. in 1998. During this formative period, Scaria’s art was influenced not only by his education, but also by his broader urban environment. His move from Kothanalloor to the capital enabled a deeper exploration of migrant alienation. His work began to examine the dynamic nature of cities, focusing on how their ongoing transformations were experienced by both newcomers and long-standing residents, themes that have remained central to his artistic practice.

From 2001 to 2006, Scaria served as a committee member for the Khoj International Artist Association in Delhi and organised one of their residency programmes. By 2002, Scaria garnered critical acclaim, receiving the Inlaks Scholarship from the UNIDEE, Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, Italy, where he was artist-in-residence. In the late 2000s, the artist also established a prominent international profile through a series of solo exhibitions at esteemed galleries, including H-Cube Gallery, Seoul (New Perspectives From India, 2008); The National Art Studio, Changdong (Triviality of Everyday Existence, 2008); Chemould Prescott Road (Amusement Park, 2009); Galerie Christian Hosp, Berlin (Settlement, 2009); Videospace, Budapest (Site under Construction, 2008); and The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne (Prisms of Perception, 2012).

In 2011, Scaria was among the five Indian artists featured at the 54^th Venice Biennale, showcased in an exhibition entitled Everyone agrees: it’s about to explode, curated by Ranjit Hoskote. This show was a landmark event in the history of Indian contemporary art, as it marked the first time the country had its own national pavilion at the Biennale. Scaria’s contribution, Elevator from the Subcontinent (2011), was an immersive installation that simulated an elevator ride, allowing viewers to 'time travel' to various locations across India. Hoskote commended the piece for its “precise purchase on the sociological processes and psychological pressure of internal migration…an exchange between dissimilars, a tangled conversation.”

In addition to the Venice Biennale, Scaria presented at the 3rd Singapore Biennale and Prague Biennale 5 in 2011, as well as the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2014.

In 2015, Scaria’s significant solo exhibition The Ark at Chemould provided a commentary on apocalyptic themes, reflecting upon climate change and its survival. Echoing Noah’s evaluation of humanity in the Bible, Scaria also tackled the territorial disputes between Israel and Palestine, underscoring both the forward-thinking nature and the ongoing relevance of his art today.

Beyond his art, Scaria has contributed to education, serving as adjunct faculty at Jindal University in 2018 and as an associate professor at Shiv Nadar University (SNU) in 2022. He has also co-curated IDAM: Where Being Sprouts into Language, presented by The Kochi Biennale Foundation in 2022, and curated Moments in Collapse in 2024, a show at Jawahar Bhawan organised by the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT). This ambitious exhibition featured 44 artists and over 80 artworks, exploring the challenges of the Indian socio-political landscape.

Recently appearing in Modus Operandi III: Together Alone, 2022 and Part 1: Framing | CheMoulding: Framing Future Archives, 2023, Scaria’s art continues to explore the complex interactions between humans and modern progress. Through imaginative architecture and surreal landscapes infused with his own regional self-deprecating humour, his works address both intellectual and emotional dimensions. They explore themes that transcend verbal expression, delving into the anxieties and emotions that shape our own daily lives.

His selected group exhibitions include, Sights and Sounds: India, The Jewish Museum, New York, 2015; Multiplicity City as subject/matter, Belfast, Hong Kong, New Delhi, New York, Tel Aviv; Forms of Activism / Sahmat / curated by Vivan & Sasha, Lalit kala Gallery, Raveendra bhavan, New Delhi, 2014; Aesthetic Bind: Citizen Artist: Forms of Address, Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, curated by Geeta Kapur; Organic dreams of electric sheep: Image, Empathy and Pulse: After Philip K. Dick, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai; Poseurs: An exhibition of photographs Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai; Spell of Spill: Utopia of Ecology, curated by Veerangana Solanki at Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi; France Heritage – A photographic voyage of French heritage in India, Alliance Francaise, Delhi, Ahemdabad, Hyderabad, Pondicherry, Lalit Kala Academy Chennai, National Gallery of Modern Art Bangalore; The Sahmat Collective: Art and Activism in India Since 1989, Smart Museum, Chicago; City Unclaimed, a site specific installation installed at the Smart Museum Chicago; Critical Mass: Contemporary Art from India, curated by Tami Katz Freimann and Rotem Tuff, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel, 2012; Banner Project ET4U Contemporary Visual Arts project, Vestjylland Denmark, curated by Klavs Weiss, 2013; Sub –Topical Heat: New art from South Asia, curated by Rhana Devenport at the Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand; A further Global Encounter, Grosvenor Vadehra, London; To Let the world in, Lalitkala Academy Gallery, Chennai, curated by Chaitanya Sambrani; Cynical Love: Life in the everyday, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, curated by Gayatri Sinha, 2012; Yamuna–Elbe Project: A site-specific installation project at the bank of River Yamuna in Delhi, curated by Ravi Aggarwal; India side by side, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil. In Rio De Janeiro, SESC Belenzinho, Sao Paulo, curated by Tereza de Arruda, Every one agrees: it’s about to explode, curated by Ranjit Hoskote, India Pavilion at 54th Venice Biennale; Crossroads: India Escalate, Prague Biennale, curated by Kanchi Mehta; Tolstoy Farm: Archive of Utopia, curated by Gayatri Sinha; 3^rd Singapore Biennale, curated by Russell Storer and Trevor Smith, 2011; Finding India, Museum of contemporary art (MOCA) Taipei; Samtidigt Indian contemporary art exhibition, Helsinki City Art Museum, Finland and Kulturhuset, Stockholm; Indian (sub) way, curated by Yashodhara Dalmia, Grosvenor, Vadehra London; Invisible cities, Aicon Gallery, New York; Video Art India, curated by Luissa Ortinez, Fundacio la Caixa, Barcelona, Spain, 2010; Video Zone-4, The 4^th International video art Biennial, Tel Aviv, Israel, Mam Screen, Mori Art Museum, Japan; India Moderna, Ivam Museum, Valencia, Spain; Chalo India, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain, 2008; Public Places/Private Spaces: Contemporary Photography and Video Art In India, curated by Gayatri Sinha, The Newark Museum, New Jersey, U S A; After Shock Conflict, Violence and Resolution in Cotemporary Art, a group show supported by Sainsbury Centre in collaboration with Matthew Shaul and the UH Galleries, England, curated by Yasmin Zahir; Indian photo and Media Art: a journey of Discovery Exhibition, Vienna, Austria; Horn Please: Narratives in contemporary Indian Art, Kunstmuseam Bern, Switzerland, World Social Forum, Nairobi, 2007; Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin 2006, a film and video festival in Paris and Berlin, 2006; Paper flute, curated by Johny M.L at Gallery Espace New Delhi; Self x Social Self stranger parent resource worker, School of Arts and Aesthetics Gallery, New Delhi curated by Geeta Kapur, 2005; Making of India, organised by SAHAMAT at Rabindrabhavan, New Delhi, 2004; Crossing Generations Diverge, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, curated by Geeta Kapur and Chaitanya Sambrani, 2003.