Title: Room for thought
Medium: Soft body and Fluid acrylic paints on Saunders Waterford acid-free paper (large paper) and on Zeichenblock Cartapura (small paper)
Size: 9.5 x 6.5 inches (small) Size: 29.75 x 22 inches (large)
Year: 2023-24
Room For Thought was exhibited at ‘LIMITS OF THE TOWN…’, Kulavoor’s solo show curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta at Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai, between 11th Nov and 28th Dec 2025.
All photographs by Anil Rane, courtesy of Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum.
Text from BDL Museum:
Room for Thought germinates from the series Wall Politic . Kulavoor carries those concerns discussing the weighted symbolism of a wall, forward into more complex compositions. He employs abstract structures that explore how spaces are used, manipulated, and marked over time. The works look at how territories are defined, what kinds of boundaries are built, and how architecture itself reflects these negotiations.
The use of two tones—Indian red and grey—suggests both material and time. While the meaning is open to interpretation, the contrast in architecture within a city was specifically striking for the artist. Underlying these works is also the question of access: who gets to inhabit certain spaces, and who is kept out. These concerns trace back to an earlier series Outside the gated community , 2021, however one can notice the developments in visual formal sensibilities.
Kulavoor addresses questions of material, time, and above all, the human condition: how we manoeuver through rules and restrictions, how surveillance shapes our movements, and how space is monetised in urban cities.
All images and site content copyright ©️ 2010-2022 Sameer Kulavoor.
