Malavika Rajnarayan

Malavika Rajnarayan (b.1982, Hyderabad, Telangana, India) pursued BFA in Painting from the College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore in 2003 and an MFA in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Vadodara in 2006.

Malavika’s solo exhibitions include an Online Exhibition, Anant Art Gallery; Anant Art Gallery, IGNCA, New Delhi (2018). Her group shows include India Art Fair (2017, 2018, 2020); The Lodhi, New Delhi (2018); Anant Art Gallery (Online, 2020); Seattle Asian Art Museum (2022). She has been a recipient of fellowships and awards like the Promising Young Artist Award by the Fundacao Oriente, Goa (2003); Nasreen Mohammedi Scholarship for Postgraduate study (2005); Inlaks: Take on Writing Travel Grant for Young Critics (2016) and Azim Premji Fellowship (2017-19). She was an artist-in-residence at The Collective Studio, Vadodara (2010-2011); The Contemporary Artists Centre, Troy, New York (2012); CAMAC Centre for Art in Marnay sur-Seine, France (2013); and a collective residency as a member of Surfatial at ZK/U, Berlin (2017). Additionally, she is an arts educator and works with the Azim Premji Foundation as an Arts Resource Person, supporting visual arts and music teachers in their classroom practices. Malavika has previously presented lectures at EWHA University in Seoul, South Korea, College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, and conducted short workshops at NID, Ahmedabad and at non-profit organisations for women and children.

Her background in Indian classical music as well as her interest in the progression of Indian and Asian knowledge traditions form the basis of her inquiries. Her visual language is informed by miniature painting traditions, where the poignancy of ideas are conveyed through beauty, grace and poetry.

Malavika lives and works in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.