BOARD MEMBERS
Jagannath Panda
Born 1970, Odisha, India
Jagannath Panda is an eminent Artist, Artist-curator based in New Delhi, India. He is the founder member and Chairperson of Utsha Foundation. The artist’s works are predominantly rooted in Sculptures and paintings. Figures from Hindu mythology and trees with undulating branches intrude into the ordered grid of the city, reflecting the mass migrations that are taking place, the clash between rural and urban societies and the chain of production and consumption that are at odds with the environment. Such dichotomies are fundamental to Jagannath Panda’s creativity, expressed through both his imagery and the materials he employs. He has exhibited solo, widely, with galleries in Tokyo (1998), London (2006, 2009), Berlin (2011) and San Francisco (2012) as well as frequent exhibitions in New Delhi and Mumbai. Other prestigious venues that have exhibited his work include the Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (1997); the Royal College of Art, London (2001, 2002); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, and the Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi (2008); Essl Museum, Vienna, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai (2009); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (2010); Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, France, and MAXXI Museum, Rome (2011); the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2012); the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (2013); Avatar, exhibition at London’s Halcyon Gallery 2014, Crystal Cities 2018, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum and Vadehra Art gallery, New Delhi. He has won many prestigious awards, including the National Academy Award from Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi (1995) the All-India Award from the South Cultural Centre, Nagpur (1990,1994), the Alice Boner Memorial Award(1991), and London’s C.I.I.C. Centre Prize (2002). He lives and works in Gurgaon, with his family.
Pranati Panda
Born 1974, Odisha, India
Pranati Panda is an Artist based in Delhi. Her art practice predominantly constitutes the connection of her time and love for nature, personal moments, profound feelings and their memories. Provoking grief and menace, Pranati Panda’s paintings are symbolic in their showing of inner feelings and mental disturbances. Her paintings offer meticulous detail, with easy flowing lines and interesting textures and motifs. She often works with mediums like Fabric and thread, as she believes that these materials hold a strong femininity that has been in practice since ages. Through these expressions she celebrates womanhood. The artist has exhibited in various galleries, foundations like Shrishti Art Gallery, Hyderabad (2020); Vadehra Art Gallery, Gallery Art Positive (2019); Ragini Art Gallery (2018), Concern India Foundation (2016), Religare Art. New Delhi (2012), Red Earth, New Delhi (2011), Art Makers Circa 2010, Exhibit 320, New Delhi, Tangerine Art Space. Bangalore (2010). Pranati Panda’s solo exhibition ‘Speaking Threads’ concluded recently in Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, India (2020). Pranati Panda lives and works in Gurgaon, with her family.
G Ravinder Reddy
Born 1956, Andhra Pradesh, India
G Ravinder Reddy is one of the first contemporary Indian artists to draw critical attention in America, followed by his show at Deitch Projects in 2001. Ravinder Reddy's monumental female heads and nudes are among the most visible and recognisable examples of contemporary South Asian Art. He appears in collections such as that of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, USA; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan; Frank Cohen Collection, UK; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, USA; and the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia; in addition to attracting attention at various international contemporary art auctions. His solo exhibitions include Grosvenor Vadehra, London; the Deitch Projects Gallery, New York; Le Jardin d'Acclimatation, Paris; the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, USA; and the Sackler Gallery, Washington D.C. His works have also been exhibited in various group shows, including Aicon Gallery, New York (2014, 2012 and 2010); Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (2014, 2012 and 2011); Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2012); the Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, USA (2011); Walsh Gallery, Chicago, USA (2011); among others. He lives and works in Visakhapatnam.
Dr. Ramakanta Samantray
Born 1972, Odisha, India
Dr. Ramakanta Samantray is an Artist, Writer, Director based in Bhubaneswar. His academic achievements started with a brief training in painting, in 1994; he further pursued M.A. and Ph.D. in 1996 and 2004 respectively. His Solo and group exhibitions include PRABASI(2000); Rashtriya Lalitkala Kendra, Bhubaneswar(2007); Art Konsult, NewDelhi, India Fine Arts,Mumbai (2009), Sanskrit Gallery,Kolkata (2010),Gallery Nature Morte,Gurgaon (2013), Dakshinachitra,Chennai (2018), naming a few. The artist has been awarded with State Youth Award, Govt. of Orissa (2007), Award by Youth Integrated Organization, Orissa(1996), Ankur Bansidhar Samman(1996), Navaprativa Katha Award, for Best Short Story Writer from Eastern Media Ltd., and BBSR(1995), naming a few. Junior Research Fellow, UGC, New Delhi (1997-2003); Senior Fellowship,Ministry of Culture;Travel Grant, Central Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi(2004), are amongst one of his many achievements. He lives and works in Orissa.
Ramahari Jena
Born 1957, Odisha, India
Ramahari Jena is one of the first Artists from Orissa to have received a National Award by Lalit Kala Akademi. He had as well been awarded with First Eastern Print Biennial Award.
His work has been displayed at numerous National and International exhibitions including Bharat Bhavan Triennale of Graphic Art (1992-95), First Egyptian International Print Triennale, Cairo (1993) and 'A.R.K.S.' Gallery London (1998), naming a few. He has numerous publications to his credit and is passionately interested in literary journalism and book designing among his many interests. He had bagged precious fellowships/scholarships like Research Grant Award in Printmaking by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; Charles Wallace (India) Trust Award in Printmaking and Study at Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, U.K.; Senior Fellowship in painting by Ministry of Culture, Government of India. He lives and works in Orissa.
Pradosh Mishra
Born 1968, Odisha, India
Pradosh Kumar Mishra is an Art Historian, Writer, Curator and the Head of Art History department in Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. After Graduation and Post Graduation in Art History, he has been teaching in BHU for more than 20 years, with specialization in Modern and Contemporary art in India. He received the prestigious Fulbright Nehru Fellowship to teach at University of Connecticut, US in 2012. During his stay in the US, he also did a part research on the ‘Academic outreach by the American Museums’ and lectured in various American universities in Chicago, Boston, and New York. He has co-curated several exhibitions in various places including Bharat Kala Bhawan, BHU; ‘Barbil Art Project’, ‘Moving into the Margin’, Odisha; Ministry of Culture, New Delhi; Art and Ecology: Search for sustainability, Bhubaneswar and very recently curated International Art Performance Lab 2019 : Pedagogy and Practice in collaboration with Zameen Collective, New Delhi in the Department of History of Art, BHU to name a few. He had as well organised International Symposium, conducted National and International workshops like ‘Voice of Change’ and ‘Impressions’ in the Department of History of Art, BHU; facilitated (re)reading Sankho Chaudhuri, Varanasi. He has published a book titled, “From Stone to God: workshop tradition of Odishan sculpture”, besides several research papers on the subject. He has completed a UGC Major Project on, “Sculpture workshops in Bhubaneswar: Re-defining Traditional Sculpture carving in the changing socio-economic conditions”. His writings have also appeared in numerous art journals and magazines on the contemporary trends in India post 1990s.
Raghunath Panda
Born 1977, Odisha, India
Raghunath Panda is currently a Financial Adviser to Utsha Foundation. He earned his B.Com
and MBA (Finance) from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He is an art enthusiast; the
traditional and contemporary art of Orissa is one of his keen interests.He has been working with numerous social organisations for health awareness, environment,and plantation programmes. He has been an inspiration and a motivation for many people to work together for various social activities. He initiated the ‘Suryanamaskar’ Group in 2015 with an intention to spread awareness of the importance of physical and mental health. Raghunath Panda has been one of the organisers of blood donation camps, health camps, and plantation programmes at multiple places.