
Sameer Kulavoor (b.1983) is a visual artist living and working in Mumbai, India. Having closely witnessed the rapid transformation of urban surroundings and culture in India in the 90s (results of economic liberalisation and the internet boom), Kulavoor’s innate approach is to constantly note and understand the impact that time, culture, politics and socio-economic conditions have on our visible and invisible surroundings. His works often address how and why cities look and work the way they do by filtering, dissecting, defamiliarizing and documenting commonly seen subjects and events – often oscillating between instinctive and conceptual methods of making. Through the early 2000s, Kulavoor became widely known for his design and illustration work and set up one of the earliest specialised studios of its kind in India – Bombay Duck Designs. Over the next decade, Kulavoor moved on to focus on his solo art practice that has taken the form of drawings, paintings, videos, sculptures, murals, books, zines and art-prints.
He is represented in India by TARQ Mumbai.
SELECT PRESENTATIONS
SOLO
2020 You are all caught up – TARQ, Mumbai, India.
2018 A man of the crowd – TARQ, Mumbai, India.
2016 Please have a seat – Serigraphs at Artisans’, Kalaghoda, Mumbai, India.
2012 The Ghoda Cycle Project – Bicycle Film Festival, Helsinki, Finland.
GROUP
2023 Metromorphosis – Mumbai Urban Art Festival by St+Art India, Mumbai, India.
2022 India Art Fair, TARQ booth, Delhi, India.
2022 Event, Memory, Metaphor – TARQ, Mumbai, India.
2021 State of Mind : Between Dysphoria and Hope – Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India.
2021 Lokame Tharavadu – Alappuzha, Kerala, India.
2020 Resurgence – (online) TARQ, Mumbai, India.
2020 India Art Fair, TARQ booth, Delhi, India.
2019 SqW:Lab Fellowship Closing Exhibition – Mumbai, India.
2019 The Shifting City – Gallery MMB, Goethe Institut, Mumbai, India.
2019 India Art Fair, TARQ booth, Delhi, India.
2017 Parfum Sassoon – Sassoon Dock Art Project by St+Art India, Mumbai, India.
2013 Faith – Lokal Helsinki, Finland.
2010 Ten artists and a fort – FILTER, Mumbai, India.
PUBLIC ART/MURALS
2021 Emergence, The Show Windows, Coventry, UK.
2021 Lokame Tharavadu – Alappuzha beach stage, Kerala, India.
2021 Mumbai 400001 – Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai.
2019 Social Media Friendly Plants – St+Art India, Lodhi colony, Delhi, India.
2017 High Five – Artisans’ Kalaghoda, Mumbai, India.
2014 The Great North Road Mural, Zoomslide, Auckland, New Zealand.
All images and site content copyright ©️ 2010-2022 Sameer Kulavoor.
Features Press and Interviews
An eclectic canvas – Tanishka D’lyma, MID-DAY, 2 Feb 2022
Unearthing histories – A critical engagement with the archive – Zahra Amiruddin, Critical collective, 23 Aug 2022
How boredom can make us do creative things – Benita Fernando, Indian Express, 3 Jan 2021
The lies we tell ourselves – Amitava Kumar in The Indian Express, 21 Oct 2021
Feature in It’s Nice That (2021)
‘The art of looking around’ (podcast – conversation) Marine Lines with Raghu Karnad
In conversation with Shalini Passi – MASH India
In conversation with Design India Magazine (Pool 126)
‘You are all caught up’ feature and interview in MintLounge
‘You are all caught up’ featured in ArtIndia Magazine
‘You are all caught up’ feature + on the cover of Domus India Magazine
‘You are all caught up’ featured in Mid-Day
Wall of Gratitude in Architectural Digest India
Psychosomatic (Lockdown diaries) in Art India Magazine
Art in an apocalypse – Hindustan Times
Interview/studio-visit with John Ros – Studio ELL
In conversation with The National News – the middle east
Visual Notes- Lonely crowds in Domus India
In conversation with Art Radar Journal
BOOOOOOOM Editors Pick
Design Fabric features ‘A man of the crowd’
‘A man of the crowd’ featured in The Hindu feature 1 & feature 2
‘A man of the crowd’ featured in Colour Quotient
Architectural Digest features ‘A man of the crowd’
Hindustan Times features ‘A man of the crowd’
Design Fabric (Interview about the Godrej mural)
Verve Magazine (Interview in Design special issue)
GQ India – 50 most influential men.
Elle Decor 15 young Indian artists to follow right now
Homegrown.in features ‘Please have a seat’
Mid-Day features ‘Please have a seat’
The Hindu features ‘Please have a seat’
Hindustan Times (Interview)
Kyoorius Design Magazine – Feature 2
GQ India – 50 most influential men.
NIKE BleedBlue campaign hoardings
PaperPlanes (Interview)
Kulture Shop blog (Interview)
Masala Chai – South Asian art & design blog (Studio feature)
Wallpaper city guides – Mumbai (Work mentions)
With Teal Triggs on Zine Weekly (Interview)