BHARTI KHER
Born in 1969 in London, UK.
Lives and works between London, UK and New Delhi, India.
contacter

Bharti Kher’s oeuvre spans 25 years and includes paintings, sculptures and installations. Throughout her practice she has displayed an unwavering relationship with animism surrealism and the nature of things as we experience the world. Inspired by a wide range of sources and making practices, she employs readymades and material in wide arc of meaning and transformation. Kher’s works often appear to move energetically. Using counterpoint and contradiction as visual tools, her chimeras, mythical monsters, and allegorical works combine references that are at once topical and traditional, political and poetic.
Kher studied her Foundation Course in Art and Design at Middlesex Polytechnic London, and received a fine art BA in painting, with honors. at Newcastle Polytechnic, United Kingdom. Her work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions and has been included in scores of group exhibitions at museums and galleries worldwide.
Born in 1969 in London, UK.
Lives and works between London, UK and New Delhi, India.
education
1988-91
- Foundation Course in Art & Design Newcastle Polytechnic, BA Honours, Fine Art, Painting
1987-88
- Middlesex Polytechnic, Cat Hill, London, UK
solo shows
2025
- Bharti Kher. The Sun Splitting Stones, Perrotin, Paris, France
- Bharti Kher, Tate St Ives, Cornwall, UK
- Mythologies, Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
2024
- Alchemies, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK
- Target Queen, public commisison, Hayward gallery, London, UK 2022
2022
- Bharti Kher: Ancestor, Public Art Fund, Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, New York, USA
- Bharti Kher, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
2021
- Strange Attractors, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
2020
- A Consummate Joy, IMMA, Dublin, Ireland
- The Unexpected Freedom of Chaos, Perrotin, New York, USA
2019
- A wonderful anarchy, Hauser&Wirth Somerset, Bruton, UK
2018
- Djinns, things, places, Perrotin, Tokyo, Japan
- Messengers, Grunwald Gallery of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
- Chimeras, Pasquart Kunsthaus Centre d’art, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
- Points de départ, points qui lient, DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal, Canada
2017
- Bharti Kher : Sketchbooks and Diaries, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA
- Dark Matter (MM), Museum Frieder Burda Salon Berlin, Germany
2016
- The Laws of Reversed Effort, Perrotin, Paris
- This Breathing House, Freud Museum, London, UK
- BHARTI KHER Matter, Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada
- In Her Own Language, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth, Australia
2015
- Not All Who Wanders Are Lost, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA
2014
- three decimal points. Of a minute of a second of a defree, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich
- Misdemeanors, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2013
- Anomalies, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Korea
- Bind the Dream State to your Waking Life, Galerie Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
2012
- Many, (too) many, more than before, Perrotin, Hong Kong, China
- Bharti Kher, Parasol Unit Foundation for contemporary art, London, UK
- The hot winds that blow from the West, Hauser & Wirth, New York, USA
- Reveal the secrets that you seek, Savannah College for Art and Design, Savannah, USA
2011
- Leave your smell, Perrotin, Paris, France
2010
- Disturbia, utopia, house beautiful, Gallery SKE, Bangalore, India
- Inevitable undeniable necessary, Hauser & Wirth, London, UK
- Hauser & Wirth Outdoor Sculpture: Bharti Kher, Southwood Garden, St.James’s Church, London, UK
2008
- Sing to them that will listen, Perrotin, Paris, France
- Virus, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
2007
- An absence of assignable cause, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA.
- An absence of assignable cause, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
2006
- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup, Gallery 88 and Ske Gallery, Mumbai, India
2004
- Quasi-, mim-, ne-, near-, semi-, -ish, -like, Gallery Ske, Bangalore, India
- Hungry Dogs Eat Dirty Pudding, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
2001
- The Private Softness of Skin, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India
2000
- The Private Softness of Skin, Bose Pacia Modern, New York (cat), USA
1999
- Telling Tails, New Delhi, India
- Telling Tails, Galerie F.I.A, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1997
- Galerie F.I.A, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1995
- Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
1993
- AIFACS, New Delhi, India
group shows
2025
- Aura Within, Hauser & Wirth,Hong Kong, China
- The Power of Drawing: Marking 25 Years of the Royal Drawing School, Royal Drawing School, London, UK
2024
- Connecting Bodies. Asian Women Artists, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Seoul, Korea
- Enchanted Alchemies. Magic, Mysticism, and the Occult in Art, Levy Gorvy Dayan, London, UK
- In the House of the Trembling Eye. An exhibition staged by Allison Katz, Aspen, USA
2023
- Tie To All The Earth, Teagan Art Space, Beijing, China
- The Offbeat Sari, The Design Museum, London, Uk
- Bodies of Identities, Casino Luxembourg, Luxemburg
2022
- Pop South Asia. Artistic Explorations in the Popular, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
- Uncombed, Unforeseen, Unconstrained, Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello/Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, Venice, Italy
- Chromophilia, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
2021
- Hub India: Classical Radical, Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti di Torino, Torino, Italy
2020
- Tantra : enlightenment to revolution, The British Museum, London, UK
- Relations (Diaspora and Painting), Fondation Phi, Montreal, Canada
- Contemporary Female Identities in the Global South, Joburg Contemporary Art Fondation, Johannesburg, South Africa
- 21st-Century Art from the Pizzuti Collection, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, USA
- Résonance, Fondation Opale, Switzerland
- Animals in Art, Arken, Ishøj, Denmark
- Dhaka Art Summit : Seismic Movements, Bangladesh
- Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada, Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
2019
- Les arts du Tout-Monde, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
- Driving Forces: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Ann and Ron Pizzuti, Columbus Museum of Art and Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, USA
- In the Company of Artists, 25 Years of Artists-In-Residence, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA
- Desire in Art, from the 20th Century to the Digital Age, IMMA, Dublin, Ireland
- Public Art Exhibition, Harvard Business School, Boston, USA
- La Lumière des Mondes, Domaine des Etangs, Massignac, France
- Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada, University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto, Canada
2018
- Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada, Art Gallery of Alberta - Alberta, Canada
- Facing India, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg - Wolfsburg, Germany
- Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300-Now), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
- My Monster: The Human Animal Hybrid, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
- I See You, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, USA
- Surface Work, Victoria Miro, London, UK
- The Sculpture Park, Madhavendra Palace at Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur, India
- Bronze Age c.3500 BC - AD 2018, Firstsite, Colchester, UK
2017
- Fond illusions, Perrotin, New York, USA
- Portable Art: A project by Celia Forner, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
- Versus Rodin: Bodies across space and time, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- Pizzuti Collection, Visions from India. Transforming Vision: 21st Century Art from the Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, USA
- Salon, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
- Sub-Plots: Laughing in the Vernacular, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India
- Approaching Land, Akara Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
2016
- I Prefer Life, Weserburg, Bremen, Germany
- Present, Johyun Gallery, Busan, Korea
- The Future Is Already Here – It’s Just Not Evenly Distributed, 20th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
2015
- Go East: The Gene & Brian Sherman Contemporary Asian Art Collection, curated by Suhanya Raffel
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- Don’t Shoot the Painter – UBS Art Collection, Villa Reale’s Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan, Italy
- Codes of Culture, SKE Gallery, New Dehli, India
2014
- Whorled Explorations, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi, India
- Girl - curated by Pharrel Williams, Galerie Perrotin, Paris
- Entre deux expositions. Collections et nouvelles acquisitions de l'Institut, Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, Bordeaux, France
- Here Today...A major exhibition marking 50 years of the IUCN Red List, The Old Sorting Office, London, UK
2013
- Textile – Fabric as Material and Concept in Modern Art from Klimt to the Present, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
- Quartiers d'été, Collection de l'Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, villa les Roches Brunes, Dinard, France
- Trade Routes, Hauser & Wirth, London, UK
- We are Ours: A Collection of Manifestos for the Instant, Khoj International Artists’ Association, New Delhi, India
- Art & Textiles – Fabric as Material and Concept in Modern Art from Klimt to the Present, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
2012
- Misled by Nature: Contemporary Art and the Baroque, Art Gallery of Alberta, Canada (Travelling Exhibition)
- Dot. Systems. From Pointillism to Pixelation, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Germany
- La Belle & la Bête, Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, Bordeaux, France
- India: Art Now, Arken Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
- The First Kiev Biennale of Contemporary Art: The best of times, the worst of times. Rebirth and apocalypse in contemporary art’, Kiev, Ukraine
- Critical Mass, Contemporary art from India, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
2011
- Indian Highway V, MAXXI Museum, Roma, Italy
- Seduction by masquerade, Nature Morte, Delhi, India
- Paris Delhi Bombay, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
- Indian Highway IV, Museé d'art contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France
- Festival der Tiere, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria
- Maximum INDIA, John Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C., USA
2010
- Tokyo Art Meeting. Transformation, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
- Pattern ID , Akron Art Museum, Akron Art Museum, Akron, USA
- The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today, The Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
- Tauba Auerbach, Matthew Day Jackson…,Perrotin, Paris, France
- Gothenburg Culture Festival Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Lille3000: The Silk Road. Saatchi Gallery London in Lille, Tri Postal, Lille, France
- Indian Highway, Herning Kunstmuseum, Denmark
- Signs of Life. Ancient Knowledge in Contemporary Art, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
- Susan Hefuna, Bharti Kher, Fred Tomaselli: Between the Worlds, Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland
- Facing East: Recent Works from China, India and Japan from the Frank Cohen Collection, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
- Pattern ID, Akron Art Museum, Akron, USA
2009
- Marvellous Reality, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, India
Shifting Shapes. Unstable Signs, Yale University School of Art, New Haven CT
Narratives from India in the 21st century: Between Memory and History, Madrid / Casa Asia, Barcelona, Spain
- Who’s Afraid of the Artists? A Selection of Works from the Pinault Collection, Palais des Arts de Dinard, Dinard,France
- Bharti Kher, Yayoi Kusama, Eva Rothschild, Mindy Shapero, Marianne Boesky Gallery, NY, USA
- Les Artistes Indiens d’Aujourd’hui, Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp, France
- Nature Nation, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel
Re-imagining Asia. A Thousand Years of Separation, The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, UK (Travelling Exhibition)
- Where in the world, curated by Kavita Singh, Shukla Sawant and Naman Ahuja, Devi
- Art foundation, New Delhi, India
- Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art, Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria
- Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art, The National Museum of Contemporary Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
- Indian Highway, curated by Gunnar B. Kvaran, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway
2008
- Indian Highway, curated by Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK
- Mutant Beauty, Anant Art Gallery, curated by Gayatri Sinha at the Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi, India
- Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
- Indian Focus, Espace Claude Berri, Paris, France
- Everywhere is war, Bodhi Art Bombay, curated by Shaheen Merali, (cat.)
- Still moving Image, Devi Art Foundation, curated by Deeksha Nath at the Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India (cat.)
- Expenditure, the Busan Biennale, directed by Kim, Won-Bang at The Busan Museum of Modern Art, Korea
- Comme des bêtes, (Like animals), Fine Arts Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, curated by Bernard Fibicher
- Re-imagining Asia, A thousand years of separation, curated by Shaheen Merali and Wu Hang, at the House of world cultures (cat)
- Distant Nearness, The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art at Johnson County Community College, Kansas, USA
- Passage to India, Frank Cohen Collection at Initial Access Wolverhampton, UK
- India - Guest in the Giant, RAIN.bow.PEARLS, organized by Swarovski at the Kristallwelten
- New Delhi – New Wave, Primo Marella Gallery, Milano, Italy (cat.)
2007
- The Sneeze 80x80, curated by Peter Lloyd Lewis and Natasha Makowski, Cape Town, Durban
- International exhibition of sculptures and installations, organised by Arte Communications and the Department of culture of the Venice City Council.
- Urban Manners. Contemporary Artists from India, curated by Adelina von Furstenberg at Hangar Bicocca in collaboration with ART for the World Europa, Milan, Italy
- Indian Photo and Media Art: A Jouney of Discovery, FLUSS - NÖ Initiative for Photo-and Media Art, Weinviertel, Austria
- Private/Corporate IV, Sammlung DaimlerChrysler- Lekha and Anupam Poddar Collections, Berlin, Germany
2006
- Fuori Uso 2006- Altered States. Are you experienced? curated by Nicolas Bourriaud and Paolo Falcone, Ex Mercato Ortofrutticolo, Pescara, Italy
Asia Pacific Triennale, Queensland Art Gallery, (cat), Brisbane, Australia
- Le troisième Oeil, Lille 3000, curated by Caroline Naphegyi, (cat), Lille, France
- Inside outside, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
- Hungry Gods, Arario Gallery, (cat), Beijing, China
- Made By Indians, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Art on the beach, (cat), St Tropez, France
- Long Happy Hours Thereby Happiness & Other Stories, Gallery Chemould at The Museum Gallery, Mumbai, India
2005
- Zeitsprunge Raumfolgen curated by Simone Wilke, IFA Galerie Berlin and Stutgard, (cat), Germany
- Mom and Pop, Walsh Gallery, Chicago, USA
- Indian Summer, curated by Deepak Anand and Jany Luga, ENSBA, (cat), Paris
- Indian Summer, Nature Morte, New Delhi
- Het offer/ an intimate I: droom en werkelijkheid, De Beverd Museum voor Grafische werkeljkheid, Breda, The Netherlands
2004
- Contemporary Art From India, Thomas Erben Gallery, New York, USA
- Vanitas Vanitatum, curated by Peter Nagy for Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
- The SNEEZE, a Featured Film 80 artists x 80 seconds 106 minutes, curated by Natasha Makowski and Peter Lloyd Lewis, (cat), Athens, Greece
- Adrogyne, curated by Alka Pande at India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India
2003
- Crossing Generations: diverge, curated by Geeta Kapur and Chaitanya Sambrani for 40 years of Gallery Chemould, (cat), Mumbai, India
- The Tree from the Seed: Contemporary art from India, curated by Gavin Jantjes, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, (Cat), Norway
- Sirpur Paper Mills, workshop Exhibition, at Art Inc, New Delhi, India
- Bad Taste, Apparao Gallery, at The Apeejay New Media Centre, New Delhi, India
2002
- Under Construction, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, (cat), Tokyo and Japan Foundation, Japan
- Khoj Residency Show, Khoj Studios, New Delhi, India
- Creative Space, Sakshi Gallery, at Habitat Centre, (cat), New Delhi, India
- Photosphere, curated by Peter Nagy, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
- Playgrounds & Toys, ART for The World, Geneva, in Delhi with Nature Morte
- Cutting Edge Contemporary, curated by Art Edge, NGMA Mumbai, Interiors Espana, New Delhi, India
- GLUE, curated by Peter Nagy at Sumukha Gallery, Bangalore, India
- Borderless Terrain, curated by Alka Pande, India Habitat Center, (cat), New Delhi, India
- Silence Violence, NSA Gallery, a Pulse Project, curated by Greg Streak Durban, NieBethesda and Stellenbosch, South Africa
- MANGO, A SAWCC show for Talwar Gallery, New York, USA
- Sorry For The Inconvenience, curated by Gridthya Gaeweewong for Japan Foundation, at Project 304, Bangkok, Thailand and Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery Tokyo (Cat)
- Sidewinder, curated by Gerard Hemsworth for CIMA Gallery, Kolkata, India
2001
- Art On The Move, a Sahmat Project curated by Vivan Sundaram, in 5 venues in Delhi, India
- Kitch kitch Hota Hai, curated by Madhu Jain for Gallery Espace, India Habitat Center, (cat), New Delhi, India
2000
- Open Circle Exhibition, Lakeeren art Gallery, (cat), Mumbai, India
- of, based on, or obtained by (Tradition), Nature Morte, New Delhi, India
- Aar Paar, an exchange between five Indian and Pakistani artists, curated by Shilpa Gupta and Hema Mulji, at Kundan Pan Shop, Karachi, Pakistan
1999
- Impact, curated by Jim Beard Gallery, Amsterdam at CCA New Delhi, India
- Embarkation’s, curated by Yashodra Dalmia, Sakshi Gallery (cat), Mumbai, India
- Icons of The Millenium, curated by Lakeeren Art Gallery, Nehru Centre, (Cat), Mumbai, India
- Boxwallahs, Art in a Public Space with De Ego, a collaborative work with Subodh Gupta at Sahay Filling Station, Gurgaon/ Mehrauli Road, N.H.8, India
- Hed end aagse Kunst uit India, Central Bureau Vande Hogeschool, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1998
- Edge of The Century, curated by Amit Mukopadya, British Council, (cat), New Delhi, India
- Cryptograms, Lakeeren Art Gallery, (cat), Mumbai, India
1996
- Royal Overseas League Open Exhibition, Overseas House London, Edinburgh College of Art, UK
- Of Women Icons/Stars/Feasts, Eicher Gallery, (cat), New Delhi, India
1995
- 6th Bharat Bhawan Biennal of Contemporary Indian Arts, Bhopal, India
Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
- Postcards for Gandhi, a Sahmat Exhibition in five cities in India
1993
- Trends in Contemporary Indian Art, Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
1991
- Aspects of British Figurative Painting (1988-93), Milton Gallery, London, UK
1990
- Fresh Art, the National Fine Art Degree Fair, the Business Design Center, London, UK
- Squires Gallery, Newcastle Polytechnic, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
public collections
- Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
- Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria
- National Museum of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
- Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
- Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany
- Musée National d'Art Moderne - Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
- Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India
- Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India
- Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea
- Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- The British Museum, London, United Kingdom
- Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
- Worcester Art Museum, Worcester MA, USA
- Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN, USA
- North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh NC, USA
awards
2015
- Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France)
2010
- ARKEN Art Prize
2007
- YFLO Woman Achiever of the Year
2004
- French Government residency, Paris, France
2003
- The Sanskriti Award
2002
- Khoj Residency, New Delhi, India
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