About Jagannath Panda

Born in 1970 in Orissa, Jagannath Panda holds two masters’ degrees in Sculpture, one from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Vadodra, 1994, and a later degree from the Royal College of Art, London, 2002. Jagannath Pandas motifs often allude to the underlying forces that drive the social mechanism. His works reflect conflicts between ecology and development, nature and technology. Social and environmental issues also concern Panda, his subjects are found on the front page of today's newspaper and in his own backyard.

Panda's style of painting is well suited to his concerns, which are with his immediate surroundings: Orissa, the state he hails from, and New Delhi the chaotic conurbation where he now lives. The commonplace object is given symbolic stature, asked to represent communities, aspirations or even dogmas. Through his art, Panda brings together many binary opposites, juxtaposing nature and culture, the urban and the rural, tradition and innovation, and the figurative and the abstract. Animal life also plays an important part in the artist’s circle of motifs. Animals represent people, gods, or the cycle of life. He has exhibited his work at several international venues. Recipient of numerous fellowships and art residencies, Panda has won the Lalit Kala Academi Award in 1990 and All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society Award, Delhi in 1996. The artist lives and works in Delhi.