HEMANT GAVANKAR
Hemant Gavankar is a visual-art practitioner, a poet and an avid thinker currently based in Mumbai. He completed his BFA (Drawing and Painting) in 2016 and MFA (Portraiture) in 2018 from Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai. With great skill in classical academic art, Hemant pursued his practice with various experiments of form and colour compositions. Over the years, his art has changed course to observe and express the vague artificiality of human created spaces that have become the reality of one’s existence. His art begins with reality and takes momentum into simulations between alternate realities; like visualizing the same action in alternate time and multi-dimensional spaces.
Hemant has been granted the ACS Painting Grant (2024), Rangasetu Fellowship for visual-art by Maharashtra Cultural Centre (2023) and Space Studio-BICAR Writing Fellowship (2022). He has been one of the artists selected for a Residency at Art Space Hissa, Surat (2024). His works have been published in the edition 12 titled ‘Home’ of a bi-lingual journal Hākārā in 2021. He has done a multidisciplinary solo show, Magic Erase, curated by Sibdas Sengupta, Gallery Art Centrix Space, New Delhi (2025). He has been a part of various group shows which include, Expanded Disciplinarity, Art Centrix Space, New Delhi (2024); Unknowns 8, Dwija Art Gallery, Bengaluru (2024); EREWHON, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai (2023); Art35, Nine Fish Art Gallery, Mumbai (2022) and Monsoon Art Show, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai (2016), among others.
HEMANT GAVANKAR ǀ b. 1 November, 1994
EDUCATION
2018 – MFA (Portraiture), Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai.
2016 – BFA (Drawing and Painting), Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai.
2011 – Foundation Diploma in Art, Model Art Institute, Mumbai.
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2024 – Art Centrix Space Grant.
2023 – Rangasetu Visual Art Fellowship by Maharashtra Cultural Centre.
2022 – Space Studio-BICAR Writing Fellowship.
RESIDENCY
2024 – Art Space Hissa, Surat, Gujarat.
PUBLICATIONS
Chawla, Noor, Drawing Room: Hemant Gavankar on Gieve Patel’s Peacock at Nariman Point, HT Brunch, June 13, 2025.
A City of Illusions, Hākārā – A Bi-lingual Journal of Creative Expression, Edition 12, February 2021.
SOLO SHOW
2025 – Magic Erase, Curated by Sibdas Sengupta, Art Centrix Space, New Delhi.
GROUP SHOWS
2024 – Expanded Disciplinarity, Art Centrix Space, New Delhi.
2024 – Unknowns 8, Dwija Art Gallery, Bengaluru.
2023 – Erewhon, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.
2023 – Connecting Dots, Abir Space.
2022 – Unknowns 7, Gujarat State Lalit Kala Academy, Ahmedabad.
2018 – A Group Show by Dialogue with Nature, SJJSOA, Mumbai.
2018 – Envisage, Gallery CO³, Worli, Mumbai.
2017 – Around, by ArtHeart, CSMVS, Mumbai.
2016 – Monsoon Art Show, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.
2015 – Pir Parvat Si, An exhibition for Nepal Earthquake Relief, Mumbai.
PARTICIPATIONS
2024 – 5th Tagore National Exhibition of Painting.
2022 – Art35, Nine Fish Art Gallery, Mumbai.
2018 – Annual Exhibition, Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai.
2016 – Annual Exhibition, Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai.
2016 – 98th Annual Art Exhibition, The Art Society of India, Mumbai.
2016 – Maharashtra State Art Exhibition.
2013 – Maharashtra State Art Exhibition.
PRESS
Priya, Sakshi, Fragments of Memory and Space, The Pioneer, July 18, 2025.
Art Centrix Space Presents Magic Erase, A Solo Exhibition by Hemant Gavankar, Asian Art Contemporary, May 2025.