Nandan Ghiya

Nandan Ghiya’s oeuvre defines the future by persistently exploring the past, beginning with the emergence of portrait photography in India. Initially an object of curiosity and narcissism, this trend evolved into a new art form—studio photography—where the photographer blurred the lines between reality and imagination, creating a new paradigm of the hyper-real. Ghiya delves into every aspect of this phenomenon, from static frames, flat painted backdrops, ersatz embellishments, mismatched Indo-Western costumes, to bright background tints, unearthing an ethnographic documentation of a tempestuous era in colonized India. His works investigate the relationship between photography and technology, often subverting them to ultimately comprehend the fragmented human self and desire in today's age. Born in Rajasthan in 1980, Ghiya holds a diploma in fashion design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in New Delhi. Over the years, he has had solo exhibitions in New Delhi, Hong Kong, and Mumbai, and has been part of significant group exhibitions at the San Jose Museum of Art and the Ulrich Museum of Art, Kansas, among others. His recent solo, Ellipsis: Between Word & Image, curated by Rahaab Allana, was held at the Museum Galleries, Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur. Ghiya’s work is also part of the prestigious Kadist collection. Ghiya lives and works in Jaipur.