S. Nandagopal

S. Nandagopal (b. 1946)
Nandagopal’s sculptures have a whimsical, but solid quality about them, a mixture
of opposites that can be seen in their strong roots in traditional motifs that have
been transformed into a super-contemporary idiom that is uniquely his own. This
difference is the essentially quality of his sculptures. Several figures have been
inspired by Hindu mythology and the epics. However, each sculpture creates a new
mythology as well as a new form that helps us relate to a culture far removed in
time. His powerful, glistening bronze and copper sculptures soar energetically into
space. The use of commonplace found objects lends a strangely imaginative ‘today’
quality to the works.
Among the very many awards he has been honored with, are the State & National
Lalit Kala Akademi Awards – Madras, Calcutta, Kerala and New Delhi; Award of
Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta; 13th Middleheim Open-Air Sculpture exhibition,
Antwerp, Belgium; Gold Medal at the IVth International Triennale, New Delhi;Homi Bhabha Fellowship, British Council Travel Grant; Travelling exhibition of the
National Gallery of Modern Art in Tehran, Moscow and East European countries;
Indian section at the Fukuoka Museum, Japan; I.C.C.R. Travel Grant to Yugoslavia.
He was nominated by the Government of India to serve as advisor and on the
purchase committee of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; executed
a 20 foot high sculpture in stainless steel for Priyadarshini Park, Mumbai, for
the NCPA; has featured in many books; and has exhibited extensively. In 2010,
Nandagopal was elected as one of the nine eminent artists of the country by the
Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.