Dhruva Mistry RA

Born: 1 January 1957, Kanjari, India
Elected ARA: 29 May 1991
Elected RA: 26 June 1991
Category of Membership: Sculptor

Dhruva Mistry RA, 'Recline'. Stainless steel and deep crimson epoxy paint. H49.5 W82.5 D40.6. Dhruva Mistry studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, The M S University of Baroda, India from 1974 to 1981, and gained a British Council Scholarship to the Royal College of Art, London where he studied from 1981 to 1983.

His oeuvre ranges from small-scale domestic pieces to monumental public commissions. Drawing inspiration from ancient and modern civilizations, he uses a variety of materials and genres to explore cultural tensions.

His first solo exhibition was held at Art Heritage, New Delhi, touring to the Jehangir
Art Gallery, Mumbai in 1982. He was Artist in Residence at Kettle’s Yard, with a Fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge (1984-5) and since then he has shown regularly throughout the UK and abroad. He was Sculptor in Residence at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (1988), represented Britain at the Third Rodin Grand Prize Exhibition, Japan (1990) and was selected for the solo show ‘Asian Artists Today — Fukuoka Annual VII’, by the Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan (1994). In 1992 he was commissioned by Birmingham City Council to design sculptures for Victoria Square, Birmingham, for which he received several awards, and in 1998 he was selected for the Millennium Medal Competition, London. His work has also been included in group shows in India and abroad since 1976.

Dhruva Mistry was elected Royal Academician in 1991, Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, London in 1993 and was awarded an Honorary CBE in 2001. He returned to India in 1997 to take up his appointment as Professor, Head of Sculpture and Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University of Baroda.

Solo exhibitions
2011 Grosvenor Vadehra, London
2010 Hatheesing Centre, Ahmedabad
2008 Dhruva Mistry, Artist in Focus, Contemporary Works: India 2008
Harmony Art Foundation, Mumbai
2007 Coimbatore Palace, Bodhi Art, New Delhi
Art Pilgrim, New Delhi
2003-2004, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
Lalit Kala Gallery, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi
2001 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Dhruva Mistry, Work 1997-2001, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai and tour
Queen’s Gallery, The British Council, New Delhi
2000 Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick
1999 Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1998 Nazar Gallery, Vadodara
1997 Bothy Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
1996 Meghraj Gallery, London
1995 Royal Academy of Arts, London (Friends Room)
1994 Modern Art Gallery, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka
1990 Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London

Recent Group Shows
2012 Royal Academy, London
Pangolin, London
2011 Grosvenor Gallery, London
Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai
2010 Chelsea College of Art & Design, London
2008 Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi
Bad Homburg Kurpark and Castle Gardens Blickachsen, Germany by Galerie Scheffel
Swarovski ‘Crystal World’ Sculpture Park, Wattens, Austria
2007 Gallery Artlier, Fukuoka, Japan
Sotheby’s, London
Grosvenor Gallery, London
Kala Gallery, Tirol, Austria
India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2006 Berkley Square Gallery, London
2005 Gosvenor Gallery, London
Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2004 Embassy of France, New Delhi
Sakshi Gallery, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2003 Affordable Art Show 2003, The Kanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad
2002 Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice
Science Museum, London
2001 Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
Royal College of Art, London
2000 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Holland Park, London

Public collections
Arts Council, London
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham
Contemporary Art Society, London
Churchill College, Cambridge
Cartwright Hall, Bradford
City Art Gallery, Manchester
City of Stoke-on-Trent
Department of Fine Arts, Punjab university, Chandigarh
Fukuoka Art Museum and Asian Art Gallery, Fukuoka
Glynn Vivien Art Gallery, Swansea
Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh
Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston
Jigyo-Chuo-Koen Park, Fukuoka
Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
Leicestershire Education Authority, Leicestershire
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Milton Keynes Development Corporation, Milton Keynes
Merseyside Development Corporation, Liverpool
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
Peter Moores Foundation, Liverpool
Roopankar Museum of Fine Art, Bhopal
Royal College of Art, London
Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton
Sculpture at Goodwood, Goodwood
Tate Gallery, London
The British Council, London
The British Museum, London
The British Library, London
The Hakone Open Air Museum, Japan
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
West Zone Culture Centre, Udaipur
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton

Public commissions
1982 Mitchell Beazley
1983 Peter Moores Foundation, Liverpool
1984 Merseyside Development Corporation, Liverpool
1985 Churchill College, Cambridge
1987 Nitchiman Corporation, Japan
1988 Glasgow Garden Festival, Glasgow
British Art Medal Society, London
1989 National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
1990 Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow
1992 Victoria Square, The City Council, Birmingham
1993 Quaglino’s, London
1993 International Classical Music Awards, London
2001 Shortlisted for Monument to Motherhood, sponsored by Shacolas Group, Cyprus

Television and radio
1986 ‘Folio’, Anglia Television
1988 ‘Bandung File’, Channel 4
1990 The Late Show, Pick of the Month, BBC2
Third Ear, an interview of the artist by Dr. Andrew Causey, BBC Radio 3
1993 ‘Sister Wendy’s Odyssey: A Journey of Artistic Discovery’, BBC 2
‘Take 15’, Central Television
1999 ‘Meridian Live’, BBC Arts, World Service, 23 December
2001 ‘Limelight’, Star TV Network, New Delhi

Contact details for further information
Email membershipoffice@royalacademy.org.uk

• Royal Academy of Arts