Alwar Balasubramaniam
Indian artist (born 1971)
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Alwar Balasubramaniam (Tamil: ஆழ்வார் பாலசுப்ரமணியம், Hindi: अलवर बालासुब्रमण्यम, born 1971), known professionally as Bala, is an Indian sculptor and artist.[1][2]
1971 (age 54–55)
- Government College of Fine Arts, BFA, 1990 – 1995
- Edinburgh Printmakers, 1997 – 1998
- University of Applied Arts Vienna, 1998 – 1999
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| Born | Alwar Balasubramaniam 1971 (age 54–55) |
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Biography
Alwar Balasubramaniam was born in 1971, in Tamil Nadu. In 1995, Bala graduated from Government College of Fine Arts with a specialism in printmaking.[3] Bala continued his studies at the Edinburgh Printmakers and the University of Applied Arts Vienna.[3]
From 1998 – 2015 Bala lived and worked in Bengaluru, Karnataka.[3] As of 2015, Bala lives and works in his ancestral village outside of Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu.[3][4]
Bala is known for embedding sculptures in walls. [5] Bala's work centers on the human body and the body's interaction with the material environment and intangible elements such as light, air, and shadow.[6] In 1998, Bala was an artist-in-residence at the then MacDowell Colony, and worked in the Putnam graphics studio.[7][8] Bala was also part of the UNESCO Aschberg Bursaries for Artists for Residency program in Vienna, Austria a year later, and was a featured speaker at TEDIndia in 2009.[9][10]
His work has since been exhibited by major institutions such as the Mori Art Museum; the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA); the Seattle Art Museum; the Lalbhai Museum in Ahmedabad, India; and the Essl Museum in Vienna[11]. Notable solo and group exhibitions include Afterlives: Contemporary Art in the Byzantine Crypt at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) (January 2024 - January 2027),[12] Seeing Differently: The Phillips Collects for a New Century at The Phillips Collection (March - September 2021),[13] On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (November 2010 - February 2011),[14] Beyond the Self: Contemporary Portraiture from Asia at Australia's National Portrait Gallery (August - November 2011),[15] Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum at the Guggenheim Museum (February - April 2010),[16] and Indian Summer at the École des Beaux Arts (October - December 2005).[17]
Bala's art has also been presented in international exhibitions such as the 1st Singapore Biennale and the 18th Sydney Biennale.[18][19] In February 2026, he was selected as one of five artists at the 61st Venice Biennale’s India Pavilion, presenting Drift (2026) and Not just for us (2026).[20][21]