MUMBAI.- Sakshi Gallery presents artist Siddhartha Kararwal’s third solo, सब- conscious, opening on September 11, 2025. The artist wields puns that move beyond humour, as incursions into consumerism, mediated by tongue-in-cheek observations into the disarray of global affairs, consumerism, and news cycles.

In a visual language that pays part-homage to surrealism and pop art aesthetics, Kararwal’s hues of pastel green, pink and blue both conceal and reveal the cracks in contemporary society, underwritten by humour. In the artist's line of sight, nothing is taken for granted. A voracious consumer of news, Kararwal churns these observations, pulls them apart, and questions where we go from here. What we see, consume and choose to overlook are laid bare in his works, to confront the absurdity of the world that we currently inhabit.

In his paintings, both animate and inanimate objects are given humorous, unsettling forms. A stiletto is distorted, its sharp heel reminiscent of a human organ. Kararwal’s armoury is replete with motifs from surrealism. In Dictator’s Day Out, Kararwal depicts a mélange of figures from the world of politics, pop culture and entertainment. Here, full lips are overlaid onto Batman's mask, reminiscent of a prominent political figure. What do we make of these contortions? Some of these motifs recall Salvador Dali’s works, where lips became objects of fetishization and desire. Kararwal extends the lineage of these motifs into the contemporary moment as markers of over consumption.

For his viewers, Kararwal makes spectacle of recognizable figures, the media and the echo chambers and dichotomies these spaces produce. But these are not frivolous contortions; rather, sharp critiques of the world we inhabit, asking us to look again and through different lenses.

Siddhartha Kararwal completed his BVA and MVA in the discipline of Sculpture from M.S.U, Baroda in 2006 and 2009, respectively. Kararwal has participated in numerous exhibitions in India and internationally including Paris and the Yerba Buena Centre of Arts in San Francisco. His most recent solo Take on Fake was held at Sakshi Gallery in 2023.

Kararwal’s residencies include Sandharb in Jaipur (2015), Art Omi in New York (2014), the Bangalore Artist Residency funded by India Foundation of Art Bangalore 2010, ‘Kaashi art gallery’ Kochi 2009 and an Internship at the Khoj workshop, Delhi 2006. He is the recipient of the Best Display award MS University, Baroda 2009 and one of the FICA runners up in 2010. The artist lives and works in Jaipur.