Jaya Ganguly Retrospective at IFBE Mumbai to Showcase Four Decades of Artistic Journey

Exhibition Opening in Mumbai

The Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), in collaboration with Art Magnum, presents Jaya Ganguly: A Retrospective (1982–2025), an exhibition celebrating over four decades of the artist’s practice. The exhibition opens on 2 April 2026 at 6:00 PM and will remain on view until 9 April 2026, with viewing hours from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The exhibition will be held at IFBE, 10–12 Calicut Street, Ballard Estate, Fort, Mumbai.

Tracing Four Decades of Artistic Practice

The retrospective brings together works created between 1982 and 2025, offering a comprehensive overview of Ganguly’s evolving artistic language. Through paintings and drawings from different periods, the exhibition reflects the artist’s engagement with themes such as memory, emotional intensity, and the complexities of the human condition. The works demonstrate how her visual vocabulary has shifted over time while maintaining a strong emotional and expressive core.

Artist Background

Born in Kolkata, Jaya Ganguly is known for her expressive approach to the human figure and her exploration of women’s experiences in patriarchal societies. Her works often feature bold lines and emotionally charged faces that reflect resilience, vulnerability, and defiance. Over the years, Ganguly has built a body of work that addresses gender, identity, and psychological states through layered imagery and strong visual symbolism.

Curatorial Perspective

Curated by Rakhi Sarkar, Director of CIMA – Centre of International Modern Art, the exhibition situates Ganguly’s work within a broader modern and contemporary context. Sarkar’s curatorial approach highlights both continuity and transformation in the artist’s practice, allowing viewers to trace how her themes and forms have responded to personal experiences and shifting social realities.

Themes in the Artist’s Work

The exhibition emphasises the emotional and social concerns that have shaped Ganguly’s practice. Her works frequently address the struggles faced by women in restrictive social structures, presenting figures that question authority and assert their own presence.

Key themes explored in the exhibition include:

• The lived experiences of women in patriarchal societies
• Emotional resilience and vulnerability
• Memory and personal introspection
• The evolving representation of the human figure

Many of the works reveal a strong sense of pathos combined with defiance, reflecting the artist’s engagement with personal and societal conflicts.

Highlights of the Retrospective

The exhibition presents a selection of works spanning multiple phases of Ganguly’s career.

Highlights include:

• Early monochromatic drawings and sketches
• Large expressive canvases from later periods
• Works created during the COVID-19 period reflecting isolation and introspection
• Paintings exploring fragmented and distorted human forms

Together, these works offer insight into how Ganguly’s practice has developed over more than forty years.

Visitor Information

The exhibition is open to the public throughout its run in Mumbai. Visitors will have the opportunity to view a wide range of works that map the artist’s creative journey across decades.

Takeaway

Jaya Ganguly: A Retrospective (1982–2025) offers an opportunity to encounter the artistic evolution of a painter whose work engages deeply with questions of identity, resilience, and human emotion. By bringing together works spanning four decades, the exhibition provides viewers with a broader understanding of Ganguly’s practice and its relevance within contemporary Indian art discourse.