(b. 1964)
Anju Dodiya (b. 1964) is known for her ‘fictional self-portraits’ that confront the terrifying act of creation. Dodiya graduated from the Sir JJ School of Art (Mumbai) in 1986, and has been recognised as among the most prominent artists of her generation. As a dedicated watercolourist, her works frequently juxtapose delicate and seemingly spontaneous watercolour stains against hard-lined charcoal incursions. Over the decades, Dodiya has expanded her scale and visual vocabulary, layering references from poetry, miniature paintings, Renaissance masters, Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, haute couture and European cinema in her introspective works.
Dodiya investigates the act of remembrance through the fragility of the human body. Working primarily on paper and sometimes with fabric; her interest in the changing self, the body and sleep has had her painting on mattresses too.
Anju has had 19 solo exhibitions including the site-specific installation, ‘Throne of Frost’ at the Lukshmi Villas Palace, Baroda, 2007. Her group participations include, 'Making Worlds', the 53rd Venice Biennale, 2009, (curated by Daniel Birnbaum); 'Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life', (curated by Anita Dube), Fourth Edition of the Kochi Muziris Biennale, 2018; ‘Thinking Historically in the Present’, (conceived by Okwui Enwezor, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi), Sharjah Biennale 15, 2023.
Represented in several private and public collections in India and abroad, including the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Mumbai; Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, Mumbai; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon; Burger Collection, Hong Kong; RPG Enterprises, Mumbai; TAPI Collection of Shilpa and Praful Shah, India; The Art Institute of Chicago; Tate Modern, London; Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai; Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah; Kadist Foundation, Paris and Buxton collection, New Zealand.