INTRODUCTION

Kanishka Raja's densely layered imagery of liminal spaces and image transmission – airports, ships, television monitors, shopping malls, display cases, tent cities – evokes experiences of transience and addresses the complexities of inhabiting a globally interconnected world.

"It is stimulating to see how Raja works within a certain formal framework to construct his notions of a serious and relevant political, religious and social zeitgeist. Instead of being didactic, Raja's work seeks from its viewer to ponder and question what it stands for. The viewer is faced with a sleek aesthetic beauty through Raja's use of perfect linear Renaissance perspectives, coupled with the bright colours that are reminiscent of Indian textiles. In fact, putting together elements of Western art theories and tenets of Indian art, especially of miniature paintings, is typical in Raja's works." – Meenakshi Thirukode in 'The Hindu', May 11, 2008.

Along with portraying unceasing passage, Raja embeds a feeling of stasis in his paintings. A number of them are filled with rows of cots or tents, which may signify accommodations for a canceled flight or shelter from a much larger disaster. The discourse of post-modernity is one of indeterminacy, openness, and flexible accumulation, and yet the political economics beneath it aren't always quite so giving. What may appear as freedom of movement is oftentimes a mask for dispossession – a dynamic at the core of Raja's work.

Born 1970 in Calcutta, India
BA – Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, USA
MFA – Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME, USA
Lives in New York