Sameer Kulavoor’s (b. 1983) practice emerges from a way of seeing and decoding his surroundings, translating impressions into imaginative and intuitive forms and compositions. His works are ruminations on the ever-changing metropolis and what it means to exist in it, capturing its ephemerality, idiosyncrasies and multiplicity, much of which often goes unnoticed, unrecorded or undocumented.
With over two decades in art and design, Kulavoor has found himself drawn to investigating patterns, peculiarities and anomaliesin our complex landscape. This play with colours, textures, compositions and forms defamiliarize the viewer of the mundane, drifting through a sense of abstraction and imagination. Veiled behind his playful compositions lies a sincere reflection on urban life and the impact of time, culture, politics, and socio-economic conditions on our built environment. Kulavoor rigorously experiments with various ways of making and outlets , including paintings, drawings, animation films, printmaking, zines, murals, and public art projects.
His solo presentations include Edifice Complex (2023); YOU ARE ALL CAUGHT UP (2020); and Man of the Crowd (2018) at TARQ, Mumbai; Please Have a Seat at Artisans’ Centre, Mumbai (2016); and The Ghoda Cycle Project at World Design Capital, Helsinki, Finland (2012). His group exhibitions include Who are these outsiders?, Gallery XXL, Delhi (2023); Lokame Tharavadu, Alappuzha, Kerala (2022); State of Mind: Between Dysphoria and Hope, curated by Sayali Mundye, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (2022); The Shifting City, curated by Kaiwan Mehta, Mumbai Pavilion of Making Heimat- Arrival City, Goethe Institut Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai (2019); and Faith, India exhibit, LOKAL, Helsinki, Finland (2015).
Kulavoor has engaged in multiple large scale public art projects to include Metromorphosis, Mumbai Urban Art Festival, Mumbai (2022); The Show Windows, Coventry, U.K. (2021); Max Mueller Bhavan Project, Mumbai (2021); India Art Fair exhibition facade , Delhi (2020); Lodhi Art Festival, St+Art India Foundation, Mumbai (2019); and Parfum Sassoon, St+Art India Foundation, Mumbai (2017). Some notable curation and self-publishing projects include Everyday India published by Bombay Duck Designs (2023) which also took form of an exhibition presented by BARO Market at 47-A Design Gallery, Mumbai; EverydayZine, curation and design collaboration with Zeenat Kulavoor and Phalguni Desai (2019 onwards); and Hundred Percent Zine (100%ZINE), concept and curation with Lokesh Karekar (2010). In the early 2000s, Kulavoor was widely recognized for his work in design and illustration and set up Bombay Duck Designs, one of the earliest specialised studios of its kind in India.
Kulavoor’s most recent body of work was shown at TARQ’s booth at Art Basel Hong Kong in 2024. He is also a visiting Faculty of Architecture at CEPT University, Ahmedabad.
Kulavoor currently lives and practices out of Mumbai, India.