Anupama Alias Anil
Anupama Alias Anil (b. 1990, Kerala) Anupama Alias Anil focuses on depicting women at a transitional and vulnerable time in their lives: not the adolescent years that have been the focus of her works in the past few years, but the other transitional, in-between years: the ‘middle’ years. In a macro-metaphor, her work focuses on people, transitions, identity, and the ‘in-betweenness’ of existence. Anupama tries to unravel the implied desires and fluctuations of identity that womanhood has thrust upon her. The idea is to not just focus on the universality of womanhood but get to the essence of being a girl first, and a woman later.
The intriguing reason behind how Eve was made from Adam’s rib became the genesis of her work whereby she began exploring the human anatomy. The rib cage becomes the spine of Anupama’s works which allowed her to examine other body parts, something that helped her embark on a metaphysical journey of self-discovery.
Anupama completed her BFA and MFA in Applied Art from Govt. RLV College, Thripunithura, Kochi in 2011 and 2014 respectively. She has also completed an MFA in Painting from S N School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad in 2016. Anupama is a recipient of the Sankara Menon Memorial Gold Medal, Lalithakala Akademi, Kerala (2016), the Special Mention Award by Kerala Lalithakala Akademi (2018) and a Diamond Jubilee Fellowship from the Department of Cultural Affairs, Kerala (2019). She is one of the recipient of RAI residency by RIZQ Art Intiative 2024. Her participations include Fabular Futures Two person show with Latitude 28, Delhi Contemporary Art Week with LATITUDE 28, Bikaner House, New Delhi (2021,22,23,24); ‘Residues’ curated by Reha Sodhi in collaboration with LATITUDE 28, ‘Lokame Tharavadu (The World is One Family)’ curated by Bose Krishnamachari, Kochi Biennale Foundation (2021); ‘Between the Lines’ Tribute to Manoj Nair, Gallery 27, Fort Cochin, Kerala (2020); ‘A Page in the Book of My Life’, Pullman in association with LATITUDE 28, New Delhi (2019); HT Imagine Festival (LATITUDE 28, New Delhi, 2019); India Art Fair (LATITUDE 28, New Delhi, 2019) and ‘Babur ki Gai’, curated by Adwait Singh and Bhavna Kakar, LATITUDE 28, New Delhi (2018).