On All Counts

Exhibit 320 presents On All Counts, the gallery’s first solo exhibition with Delhi-based artist Deepak Kumar. For over a decade, Kumar’s practice has been introspecting the disparity of biodiversity between his hometown in rural Bihar and the Delhi Capital Region where he lives. From growing up around birds, insects, and animals, Kumar’s transition to the city met with the harsh realities of their untimely death and extinction. For him, the tunnel vision of urban development leads to an irrecoverable loss of biodiversity and the disappearance of many species.

Kumar notes, "I increasingly see more death than the natural life around me. When I was new to the city’s suburbs, I used to spot rabbits in the surrounding fields, but today, they are a rare sight as the unpredictable landscape of urbanism made their underground safe homes extremely vulnerable. As an artist, I reflect on these changing realities and create an archive for the future of interspecies coexistence."

The process of Kumar’s practice stems from gathering the remains of birds, insects, and animals from abandoned spaces and studying and memorializing them through drawing. These studies translate into paintings, sculptures, and installations, where he intersperses them with images of concrete buildings, green patches, and blueprints. These intersections are both a caution and a suggestion of how humans and non-humans can find a balanced field of cohabitation.

“I am drawn to the sensitivity Kumar brings into the interspecies habitat around him, provoking us to reflect on our shared responsibility for the planet's future. We are glad to be partaking in this conversation through this exhibition,” says Rasika Kajaria, Founder and Director of Exhibit 320.

At its core, Kumar’s artistic work is a plea for accountability on all counts for the debilitating impact humans continue to have on other species. And to collectively build a world of empathy for all lives that embody this planet.

The Artist
Born in Hajipur, Bihar, artist Deepak Kumar completed his BFA (2015)  and MFA (2017) in Painting from the College of Art, New Delhi. His work primarily engages with perils of urban planning and development that do not account for the well-being of its biodiversity. Set out to invoke a sense of empathy and responsibility among the viewers, Kumar’s practice continues to account for the rising loss of lives due to reckless practices of urban expansion.  

Deepak Kumar exhibitedhis works in several venues across the country including Dhoomimal Art Gallery (2016), India Habitat Centre (2017), India International Centre + MASH India (2022), Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi (2020), Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Gallery 78 (2020), Bikaner House + Terrain.art (2021), to mention a few. His debut solo exhibition, Live Location, was held in 2022 at Bikaner House, New Delhi.

Kumar received the AIFACS Award (2016), 1st runner-up in Glenfiddich Emerging Artist (2017), and Prafulla State Award, Bihar (2019). He also received the Lalit Kala Akademi National Award (2023). He lives and works in New Delhi, India.

The Curator
Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi is an Independent writer and curator based in New Delhi. He is currently the Principal Investigator at the interdisciplinary lab Pollinator.io and a Visiting Professor of Visual Arts at Ashoka University. In the past decade, he was involved in research and curatorial projects with Park Avenue Armory, Asia Society in New York, and held positions with Devi Art Foundation, Raqs Media Collective, and Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. Until recently, he was the Chief Curator at Terrain.art, and a Special Projects Curator at Nature Morte, New Delhi. His selected curatorial projects include Infinite Reminders, and Non-Fungible Speculations at Nature Morte, New Delhi (2022). Terrain Offline, Bikaner House, New Delhi (2021), Missing Hue of the Rainbow, Hessel Museum of Art, NY (2019).

Mopidevi’s single and collaborative writing has appeared in John Akomfrah: Signs of Empire, New Museum, New York (2018), Songs for Sabotage, New Museum + Phaidon (New York / London, 2018), Information: Documents of Contemporary Art, MIT Press + Whitechapel Gallery (London, 2016), Raqs Media Collective: Case Book (Toronto, 2014), INSERT2014 Publication (Delhi, 2014), An Autocorrected Journal (Manila, 2014), Hong Kong-based OCULA among others. He has also been a guest contributor for STIRworld Magazine, India.