Nalini Malani
In Search of Vanished Blood, 2012
Six channel video/shadow play with five rotating reverse painted Mylar cylinders, sound
Running time: 11 minutes
Dimensions variable
Edition of 3
Installation view: Galerie Lelong, New York, 2013
Nalini Malani
In Search of Vanished Blood, 2012
Installation view: Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2014
Nalini Malani
In Search of Vanished Blood, 2012
Detail view
Nalini Malani
Transgressions II, 2009
Three channel video/shadow play with four rotating, hand-painted polymer cylinders, sound
Variable dimensions
Collection Asia Society Museum, New York
Nalini Malani
Transgressions II, 2009
Detail view
Nalini Malani
Connections: House without Walls I, 2013
Reverse painted acrylic, ink, and enamel on acrylic sheet on specially printed Hahnemuhle Bamboo paper
60 x 30 inches (152.4 x 76.2 cm)
Nalini Malani
Examination Table I, 2013
Reverse painted acrylic, ink, and enamel on acrylic sheet on specially printed Hahnemuhle Bamboo paper
Diameter: 22 inches (55.9 cm)
Nalini Malani
In Search of Vanished Blood, 2012
Digital pigment print with hand-painted acrylic on Hahnemuhle bamboo paper
34.1 x 44.1 inches (86.5 x 112 cm)
Edition of 3
Widely considered the pioneer of video art in India, Nalini Malani explores drawing, painting, and the extension of those forms into projected animation, video, and film. Her works in new media often take the form of monumental and immersive shadow play pieces that create mesmerizing layers of imagery and sound. Committed to the role of the artist as social activist, Malani focuses on creating dynamic visual stories about those who have been ignored, forgotten, or marginalized by history. Drawn from history, culture, and her direct experience as a refugee of the Partition of India and the legacy of colonialism and de-colonization, Malani’s work explores violence, the feminine, and the politics of national identity.
Malani’s work is represented in numerous public collections worldwide including the Asia Society Museum, New York; Centre Pompidou, France; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Modern Art Mumbai, India; National Gallery of Modern Art New Delhi, India; British Museum, England; and Stedelijk Museum, The Netherlands.
Malani recently presented major solo exhibitions at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Québec, Canada (2023); National Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2023); Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (2022); M+ Museum, Hong Kong (2022), Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Netherlands (2021); Whitechapel Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2021); Serralves Museum, Portugal (2020); Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain (2020); Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Massachusetts (2016); and Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, France (2010). Her solo exhibition The Rebellion of the Dead: Retrospective 1969-2018, was showed in two parts at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2017) and Castello di Revoli, Turin, Italy (2018). The artist was recently awarded the Joan Miró Prize and the National Gallery Contemporary Fellowship with Art Fund.
Malani was born in 1946 in Karachi, India. She currently lives and works in India and Europe.
Art Gallery of South Australia
Adelaide, Australia
November 5, 2022 - January 22, 2023
Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
University of California, Davis
Through June 19, 2022
With Doryun Chong
M+ Museum, Hong Kong
Held on February 17, 2021
The National Gallery
London, UK
June 26, 2020
by Lilly Wei