Thapar Gallery Presents Memory | Remains Revisiting Indian Modernism

A Dual-Artist Exhibition on View Until 28 February 2026

New Delhi: Thapar Gallery is presenting Memory | Remains, an exhibition bringing together works by Krishen Khanna and Prabhakar Kolte, on view until 28 February 2026. The exhibition revisits Indian modernism through two distinct practices that continue to engage with memory, history, and lived experience.

Modernism Viewed as an Ongoing Practice

Rather than positioning the artists as “masters” of a closed historical period, the exhibition approaches modernism as an evolving and continuing conversation. Through Khanna’s figurative works and Kolte’s abstraction, the show reflects how social memory and everyday experience remain present in contemporary viewing.

Krishen Khanna’s Everyday Figurations

Krishen Khanna’s paintings draw closely from ordinary life, focusing on figures such as bandwallas, refugees, and migrant workers seen across streets, processions, and public spaces. Associated with the Progressive movement, his work carries echoes of Partition, migration, and post-Independence India, capturing lived moments rather than fixed historical events.

Curator Ashish Thapar on Revisiting Modernism

Commenting on the exhibition, Director and Curator Ashish Thapar noted that bringing Khanna and Kolte together allows audiences to revisit Indian modernism not as a closed chapter, but as an ongoing dialogue shaped by memory, history, and experience.

Prabhakar Kolte’s Quiet Abstraction

In contrast, Prabhakar Kolte’s abstract works move away from recognisable imagery. Through layered surfaces, restrained colours, and subtle shifts in texture, his paintings explore meaning beyond representation, inviting viewers to engage with paint, space, and material presence.

A Shared Reflection on History and Experience

Seen together, the works of Khanna and Kolte suggest that Indian modernism extends beyond style or period. Memory | Remains positions modernism as a continuing process—deeply connected to society, history, and the everyday.

Event Details

Takeaway

With Memory | Remains, Thapar Gallery offers a thoughtful reconsideration of Indian modernism through two contrasting yet complementary artistic languages, foregrounding memory and lived experience as enduring forces in contemporary art practice.