MUMBAI.- In the current exhibition titled, “Smoke Out”, the instruments and methods of communication are as much the subject of L N Tallur’s work as its symbolic content. L N Tallur returns to Chemould Prescott Road after his last show in the gallery in 2013. The first ever solo exhibition that Tallur held was indeed in the small space of Gallery Chemould, then on the first floor of the Jehangir Art Gallery, way back in 1999. L N Tallur has come a long way having had extensive solo and group exhibitions from New York to China in the past 15 years. He shares time between Seoul in Korea and Kundapur in Karnataka, India with independent studio practices in both places. The work produced in Korea could be quite specific to the nature of production possibilities in Seoul, while his studio in India is brimming with work that is handcut, or carved or milled; sculptures that can be best made in a situation that allows one to be labour intensive.

They provide a fascinating insight into the processes and materials with which objects are made now, and how they rely on the accumulated knowledge of how they have been made through history. The venue where these works do their job, museums—where they eventually land up and reach out to the public—have their own processes and methods by which the objects are made to live on. Tallur is equally interested in both.

An intimate knowledge of material is not something that is the requirement of an artist alone, but also that of the museum conservator. The artistic communication of this, naturally forces one to think of symbolism, metaphor, iconography and language. Hefty matters, deeply understood but communicated with tremendous wit. And here is where Tallur takes us on journeys that tie tradition with the contemporary that often provoke questions about the future.

L N Tallur’s artistic career has proceeded along an unusual route, with museology taking precedence in his formal academic years of studying. For a sculptor who also trained in museology, his works equally observe how each thing has its process of decay written into it. The process of creation has its aesthetics as do rot and disappearance. Tallur invites us to observe and participate in this with poetic felicity. It is worthy of note that these two years also shaped his understanding of space and using ‘installations’ and primarily sculpture, to express his myriad understanding of the world and its mechanisations. Tallur’s oeuvre thematically covers, and questions, the understanding of the collective consciousness of a nation, its economics, its People and politics. His works unapologetically demand a temporal and spatial place in the minds of the audience, across the world.

His work finds its place in many contexts, be it the massive exhibitions across the CSMVS Museum (India and the World: History in Nine Stories), NGMA Mumbai (Sub-Plot; Language in the Vernacular Exhibition) and BDL Museum (10 Contemporary Art Acquisitions Exhibition) where his work is part of the contemporary conversation in India, and even in museums and galleries across the world who have a strong stable of showcasing sculptural works that tease out the dynamics between the viewer and the space embodied by the viewer. With the upcoming show, Smoke Out, at Chemould Prescott Road, Tallur has pushed his boundaries and presented us with a new set of questions, carved in wood, stone and metal.

L N Tallur (b) 1971, Karnataka India, completed his M.A. in Contemporary Fine Art Practice, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK, and M.F.A. in Museology, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat, India, B.F.A. Painting, Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA), Mysore University, India

He has had several solo exhibitions from 1999- 2015 with Gallery Chemould/Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai, Arario Gallery, Seoul, Cheonan and Beijing, SCAD Museum Of Art, Georgia, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, Nature Morte, Berlin, and New Delhi, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, Mumbai and Bose Pacia, New York.

His current and upcoming exhibition are, Persevering Traditions, curated by Veer Munshi, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (2017), Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, 10 contemporary Art Acquisitions, curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, Mumbai (2017), Sub Plot ; Language in the Vernacular Exhibition, curated by Meena Vaari, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai (in collaboration with Sakshi Gallery (2017), India and the World: History in Nine Stories, curated by Naman P Ahuja and JD Hill, CSMVS Museum, Mumbai (2017)

His selected group exhibition include, RAMAKRISHNA BEHERA | L.N TALLUR: Nature Morte Gallery, New Delhi (2016), "The Dream Must Turn Speculative" Curated by Peter Nagy, Nature Morte gallery, Kala ghoda, Mumbai (2016), Represented Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum for India Art Fair, New Delhi (2016), Constructs / Constructions, Curated by Roobina Karode, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi (2015), After Midnight : Indian Modernism to Contemporary India 1947/1997 Curated by Dr Arshiya Lokhandwala, Queens Museum, New York (2015), Encounters, curated by Alexie Glass-Kantor, Art Basel -Hong Kong (2015), Daegu Contemporary Art Festival in Gangjeong, Curated by Okreal Kim, Daegu, South Korea (2015), Mise En Scène, The School, Kinderhook, New York (2014), Beyond the Classical: Imagining the Ideal Across Time, The National Academy Museum, New York (2014), 'By Destiny' Arario Museum, Jeju island (2014), Universal Studios, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea (2014), Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India (2012), The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT 7) Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, (2012), Critical Mass: Contemporary Art from India, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel (2012), MEDI(T)ATION - 2011 Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine art , Taiwan (2011), The Empire strikes back, Indian art Today, Saatchi Gallery, UK (2010), Hungry God, Art gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Pusan Museum of Modern Art, Pusan, Korea (2007) and at Arario Beijing, China (2006), Crossing generations: diVERGE, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, organized by Gallery Chemould, Mumbai (2003), Edge of the Desire: recent art in India, 2004 to 2007.

The artist shares his time between South Korea and India.