About

Bio


Anupam Roy (b. 1985) is a multidisciplinary artist based in India. His practice spans drawing, painting, journalistic photography, posters, zines, graffiti, video, and collaborative and collective art practices. Through this diverse range of media and modes, he reflects on his experiences and observations in the hinterlands of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, where he was born; the urban landscapes of Delhi, where he currently lives and works; and Central and Northeast India, where he has engaged in regional political inquiry and propaganda praxis. His artistic investigations critically examine the limitations of contemporary representational politics in visual culture, as well as the intersections of land and labor movements, with a focus on surplus populations and their precarious conditions within the contemporary capitalist system. Anupam is an active member of several collectives, including Panjeri Artists’ Union, Jinn (an independent publication), Khandera Art Space in Dadri, and Locust Review, an international collective based in the U.S. He currently teaches in the Department of Art, Media, and Performance at Shiv Nadar University, Delhi. He studied contemporary visual art at Ambedkar University, Delhi, and pursued an MA in Fine Art at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, supported by the Charles Wallace India Trust Long-Term Scholarship (2019–2020). His works have been featured in major exhibitions and festivals, including the Colomboscope Festival (Sri Lanka, 2024), Frieze Fair (London), India Art Fair, and the 2018 New Museum Triennial (New York). He has also exhibited at institutions such as Asia Now (Paris, 2024), curated by Anushka Rajendran; Project 88 (Mumbai); and Vadehra Art Gallery (Delhi), where he has held institutional solo exhibitions. Anupam is the recipient of the Cultural & Artistic Responses to the Environmental Crisis (CAREC) Award (2025) from the Prince Claus Fund, Critical Voice of the Year (HELLO! India Art Award, 2023), and The Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) Emerging Artist Award (2018). He has actively participated in international forums, including seminars and workshops at SOAS (London), Bordeaux Montaigne University, and IIT Gandhinagar. His research explores political questions of land, ecology, and labor, alongside the aesthetic challenges of representing violence, trauma, and subaltern communities. Central to his work are two concepts he developed: "land guards," referencing grassroots efforts to protect land and resources, and "representational impossibilities," which address the limitations of language in capturing the extremities of pain and exclusion. His ongoing engagement includes movements against the Deucha Pachami Coal Project in Birbhum and the anti-caste movement in West Bengal.

CV


Educational Qualification:


  • MA-Fine Arts; De Montfort University, Leicester, UK (2019-2020).

  • MA-Visual Arts; Ambedkar University Delhi, New Delhi, India (2014-2016).

  • BFA-Painting; Bengal Art College; Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, Chhattisgarh (2004-2008).


Work Experience:


  • Currently teaching at Department of Art, Media and Performance, Shiv Nadar University, SNIOE, as Assistant Professor, joined from 28th November 2022.

  • “Kiran Nadar Museum of Art”, Saket, New Delhi, India; worked as documentalist and archivist of their entire art collections; Started from October 2016 to November 2017.

  • “RVW 720” an AD Agency, New Delhi, India; worked as a Visualizer and Designer from November 2008– September 2009.


Scholarships & Awards:


  • Cultural & Artistic Responses to the Environmental Crisis (CAREC), Prince Clause Mentorship Award by the Prince Claus Fund 2025.

  • Hello! India Art Awards: Critical Voice of the Year; By Hello Magazine; 5th February 2023.

  • Charles Wallace long-term scholarship (CWIT), for one-year MA in Fine Art at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, 2019-2020.

  • Lafarge Holcim Stipend by Verein Solikonto, Switzerland; for one-year received from 2nd Feb 2021.

  • FICA Emerging Artist Award, given by Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art collaboration with Pro Helvetia-Swiss Art Council, 2018.

  • Ambedkar University Delhi: Merit Scholarship, Fee Waiver, Student Welfare Fund in all four semesters from 2014-2016.

  • Rotary Club Calcutta, West Bengal, student grant for education 2007.


Published Art Book:



Solo Shows:


  • “All trees and flowering plants stand on their own” curated by Anushka Rajendran, at Asia Now, both no #G03, Monnaie de Paris, 11 Quaide Conti, 17th to 20th October 2024.

  • “Broken Cogs in The Machine” Vadhera Art Gallery Delhi, 6th July to 4th August 2022.

  • “De-Notified Land” Project88, Mumbai, 14th March to 4th May 2019.

  • “Labyrinth” (Reflections on 21st-century Politics), BC gallery, Fort Kochi, Kerala, 10-25th December 2017.

  • “Migratory Bird” Tagore Hall, University of Delhi and School of Arts and Aesthetics and SIS Building, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 2010.


International Shows:


  • Participated in a group show "Manifold – contemporary perspectives from India" at Galleri Image, Denmark, curated by Arko Datto, August-October 2024.

  • Participated in COLOMBOSCOPE Festival 2024. They have given a commission to show my solo project in Sri Lanka in January. Project co-commissioned by ColomboScope and Ishara Art Foundation with support of Project 88.

  • One of my video works ‘Locust Review presents: 21 Headlines” was selected in “DEMOCRACY - THE ENDANGERED BIRD”, is an ambulating public program formulated by Hillside Projects (SE) in collaboration with Indian artists and curators Saviya Lopes, Yogesh Barve, Amol K Patil, and Arijit Bhattacharyya. The program is presented in four acts at Art House cinema Zita, IASPIS and Index - The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation throughout the month of September 2023.

  • “Frieze” Fair, London, UK, by Project88, 2021 & 2023.

  • “Synergy” MA Annual Show, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK; September 2020.

  • Open Studio, Switzerland Residency, Supported by Pro Helvetia, Swiss Council, part of Emerging Artist Award, 27th June 2019.

  • “2018 Triennial: Songs for Sabotage” New Museum, New York; Curated by Gary Carrion-Murayari and Alex Gartenfeld; 13th February to 27th May 2018.

  • “Historical Materialism”, Montreal, Organized by Red Wedge, curated by Adam Turl, May 2018.

  • “Frieze” Fair, New York, USA, group show supported and participated by Project 88, 2019.


Art Residency:


  • Switzerland Residency, Supported by Pro Helvetia, Swiss Council, Part of Emerging Artist Award, 2nd April to 30th June 2019.

  • “A Beautiful Contract: An Untold Truth of mind”, residency program at Banipur Art Society and Institute of Culture, West Bengal; July 2018.


Group exhibitions:


  • Participated in “Nocturne”, curated by Uma Ray, part of 58th annual exhibition at Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata, 2025.

  • Participated in “Comics Conclave 2.0”, organised by IIT Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, March 16-17, 2024.

  • ‘Locust Review presents: 21 Headlines”, 21 minutes video work was selected at Emami Art Experimental Film Festival (EAEFF23), Emami Art, KCC Kolkata, 22-26 November 2023.

  • “Interrogations and Ideologies: A quest for Equality” curated by Prof. Y. S. Alone at U.S. Embassy, American Center and American Embassy School, New Delhi, 2023.

  • “Poetics of the real and the imagined” an exhibition of visual arts presented by the Charles Wallace India Trust in collaboration with the British Council; curated by Latika Gupta; 13th January to 2nd March 2023.

  • “Indian Art Fair 2023”, Delhi; booth D4 presented by Project 88, Mumbai; 9th to 12th Feb 2023. “Indian Art Fair 2023”, Delhi; booth D4 presented by Project 88, Mumbai; 9th to 12th Feb 2023.

  • “Dismantling Aesthetics of Inhibition: Representing Difference” a group exhibition curated by Prof. Y. S. Alone; Gallery OED, Bazar Road, Mattancheri, Kochi; 10th December 2022 to 10th January 2023.

  • “Naya Anjor” a group exhibition curated by Arushi Vats, Organized by Anant Art, Bikaner House, Delhi, 2nd to 12th December 2022.

  • “People’s Freedom 75” at Bhupesh Gupta Bhavan, Mumbai, 7th to 13th August 2022.

  • “Notes on Tending” FICA X India Art Fair, Organized by Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (booth: H-3), NSIC Exhibition Grounds, New Delhi; 28th April to 1st May 2022.

  • “Revolution & Counter Revolution” Organized by Secular Art Movement Maharashtra and Curated by Prabhakar Kamble, Jahangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India, 22nd to 28th March 2022.

  • “Speculations on a New World Order” Curated by Anuska Rajendran, an online Exhibition, organized by Shrine Empire, New Delhi; 15th April-15th May 2020.

  • “Memories of Change” Exhibition hosted by Parcha Project–The Pamphlet, Repository for Changing Activism, Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India; 6th to 13th November 2019.

  • “Critical constellation” organized by Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA), IGNCA, Delhi; 31st Jan to 9th Feb 2019.

  • “Imagining Forest” curated by Avani Sethi & V. Divakar, Conflictorium, Raipur (22nd April to 22nd June 2022); Ahmedabad (13th July to 23rd August 2018).

  • “Bevaru” (In sweat and thought) collaboration with Maraa Collective, Venkatappa Art Gallery, Bangalore, May 2018.


Published Article/Statement/Work:


  • “Perspectives on Ambedkarian Aesthetics and Social Movements: A Conversation between Prof. Y. S. Alone and Artist Anupam Roy” double blind peer reviewed publication, published by South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journalhttps://journals.openedition.org/samaj/9007July 2024.

  • “Travelling through Bastar to Reclaim Democracy and Freedom” & “A Propagandist’s Statement”, Special issue on Somnath Hore (1921-2021); ‘Ordinary Man, Ordinary Lives, Art of an Unceremonial Man’, Art & Deal, Issue 153-154, Vol-18, No-120-121, page no- 102-107; Published date 15th March 2022.

  • Book name: “Bangla Poster: Dui Banglar Lekha o Chobi” (published an article in Bengali), January 2020, Link:https://www.boipattor.in/shop-v2/bangla-poster-dui-banglar-lekha-o-chobi/

  • “Constructing Counter-Imaginaries” written by Anupam Roy, Adam Turl & Tish Turl; article originally appeared in the print edition of Imago #2, the non-fiction; 22nd May 2023. Link:https://www.imagojournal.com/home/constructing-counter-imaginaries?fbclid=IwAR2_TsaLx8I_eGVZInDi4Hka2QptycSkaKJzOuyjHq7IgN55BMvJenwsCUI

  • “Artists Against the Bomb” is a collective initiative that publishes and displays a collection of posters calling for universal nuclear disarmament. One of my posters is part of the poster series that was first publicly introduced in Vienna at the MST1, first Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW. Afterward, it was presented at the Køs Museum in Copenhagen, on billboards across the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, at Festival Ceremonia in Mexico City, and a growing number of other venues. The closing project will be presented in November of 2023 at the MST2, at the Visitor Lobby inside the United Nations in New York City. Link:https://artistsagainstthebomb.org/

  • “Elephant in the Room: infrastructures of signaling in the Arts”, Published by Conflictorium – Museum of Conflict (India) in collaboration with contemporary art center Stroom Den Haag in The Hague (NL); 2023.

  • “Moving Focus, India: New Perspective on Modern and Contemporary Art”, contain one of my drawing and work statement, Published by The Shoestring Publisher, US, 2022.

  • Editorial, Gulmohur Issue 05, March 2022 – A critical reflection on the cover artwork Conservation by Anupam Roy, exploring its visual composition, thematic significance, and socio-political undertones.

  • "From a Lost-referential Land" by Anupam Roy, Hakara Journal, June 1, 2020.


Collection:


Works collected by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (Delhi), Ashmolean Museum (Oxford), Zuzeum (Latvia), and private collectors including Sudhir Patwardhan, Parul Vadhera, Alex Gartenfeld, Damian Christinger, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, and Y. S. Alone. Additionally, commissioned by Shared Ecology.


Presentations/ Seminars/ Conferences:


  • “Body, Work, and Doing Art” conducted a three-day workshop on subjects of labour and art practice, at TENT Biennale, An experimental Films, at Arthshila Santiniketan, West Bengal, India, during 19-21 December 2024.

  • “Shilpo ebong Janoporisarer Rajniti: Prosongo Poster” organised by Gyanganj, Uponibesh Birodhi Charcha Corporate Birodhi Charcha, in collaboration with School of Languages and Linguistics, Jadavpur University, 13th June 2024.

  • “Politics of Image” a speaker session organized by The English Literary Society, Miranda House, DU, Delhi, 19th April 2024.

  • “IITGN Comics Conclave 2.0”; Organised by Curiosity Lab, IIT Gandhinagar; Coordinated by Argha Manna, Sarnath Banerjee & Jaison Manjaly; I have exhibited my works and participated as one of the speakers; 16-17th March, 2024.

  • Presented a series of lectures in different universities and colleges in Kerala (Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts, Mavelikara; Department of Visual Arts, SSUS, Kalady; Painting department, College of Fine Arts Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram; and Art History department, Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur) March 2024.

  • “Entering the Neo-Feudal? Art and Resistance in the age of platform Capitalism” a panel discussion organized by Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, other panelists are Sandip K Luis (Jamia Millia Islamia) and Shukla Sawant (School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU); Venue: Studio Safdar/ May Day Bookstore, Near Shadipur Metro Station; from 5pm onwards, 2nd March 2024.

  • “Ecology and Social Practice”, a panel discussion was part of an international show titled, ‘Explorations of Critical Zones’; organized Shared Ecology; another panelist Sharmila Samant and moderator Sneha Ragavan; Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi; 16th February 2024.

  • “Art Talk at Niv art Centre”, on their Winter Artist Residency program. Parallel to this they also invited me to interact with their Artists residence; January 2024.

  • Selected as a 2024 Fellow for “Cultural & Artistic Responses to the Environmental Crisis” (CAREC); invited to participate in the inaugural Lab Week during the Coastal Network Conference (May 5–11, 2025) in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia—an initiative led by former CAREC awardee Nova Ruth and the Yayasan Lintas Batas Foundation to foster artistic collaboration for sustainable environmental and social change.

  • “Images as reference and vocabularies of practice – A dialogic presentation” (Segment-XV of webinars) moderated by Pinak Banik (Artist & Scholar), Organized by ‘Group’ Initiative, 30th April 2023.

  • “New Practice” Season #5 (lecture series) ‘Anupam Roy in conversation with Prof. Y. S. Alone’; organized by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Saket; Thursday, 13th April 2023.

  • “Politics of Art & Politicising Art” a presentation on my practice at RLV Music and Fine Arts College, Thrippunithura, Kerala,16th December 2022.

  • “Artistic Activism in India”, Two days online conference organized with the support of Maison des Sciences de l' Homme Paris Nord, Center for South Asian Studies, Laboratory of Information and Communication Sciences-EA1803, Research team- Art /Design /Scenography Research Laboratory MICA-EA4426, Bordeaux Montaigne University, and French Institute of Pondicherry-UMIFRE21CNRS-MAE: 11th & 12th of May 2021.

  • “Critical Irrealism as a key Socialist Cultural Strategy”, Historical Materialism Online Conference, I have Performed online as News Anchor, “Locust Re-views 21 headlines”, presented with other Locust Review editors Adam Turl, Alexander Billet, and Holly Lewison,12th November 2020.

  • “Secular Art Movement”, Maharashtra, Presentation on Propaganda as Art Practice, Online art talk: 21, 3rd May 2020.

  • "Representational Impossibility", Historical Materialism London conference, Presentation on, SOAS, London, November 2019.

  • “Witnessing Body”, a work presentation and discussion, invited by HSLU, Lucerne, Switzerland, 3rd June 2019.

  • “The Impossibility of representation and the real image” a talk organized by #The Dialogue, Stiftung Bartels Foundation, Basel, 19th June 2019.


Media Features/Review/Interview/Conversation:



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