The Institute of Contemporary Indian Art (ICIA), with the support of AstaGuru, proudly presented The Shadows of Absence—the first-ever solo exhibition in India by celebrated artist Tom Vattakuzhy. The exhibition was held at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata, from 11th to 20th July 2025.
For those who had followed Tom’s work—whether through his evocative early illustrations for literary magazines or his recent appearances at the India Art Fair and the Kochi Biennale Pavilion—The Shadows of Absence marked a long-overdue moment of arrival.
Born in Kerala, Tom Vattakuzhy’s artistic journey spanned Santiniketan, Baroda, and several years abroad. Deeply influenced by literature, humanist thought, and social engagement, his practice was underpinned by a profound empathy. His luminous and restrained style blended the rigour of Renaissance realism with surrealist undertones and the intimate quietude of Kerala’s domestic worlds.
What made this exhibition particularly significant was its presentation of 16 major recent works, brought together for the very first time. Created largely over the past few years, these canvases—none of which had ever been shown in India—offered a rare opportunity to experience the full emotional and formal range of Vattakuzhy’s art. Their coming together invited viewers to engage deeply with his visual language and to consider how his work spoke to both personal memory and collective history, especially within the changing social landscapes of contemporary Kerala.
At a time when the role of painting was increasingly questioned in the face of conceptual and digital trends, The Shadows of Absence quietly but powerfully reaffirmed the medium’s capacity to reflect, reveal, and remember. The exhibition stood not only as a milestone in Tom Vattakuzhy’s career, but also as a moment of recognition for a practice that had long developed away from the spotlight—with conviction, care, and clarity.
“Tom Vattakuzhy is an interesting and somewhat unusual painter in the Indian context,” said Professor R. Siva Kumar. “He engages with the familiar, lived world in a direct and realistic manner, reminiscent of Western artists before the advent of modernism. What set him apart was his ability to do this with full awareness of modernism and its aftermath. The world he represented was one he inhabited and understood intimately. Through his practice, Tom affirmed that pictorial realism continues to be a potent and relevant artistic language today.”
Curated by eminent art historian R. Siva Kumar, the exhibition offered a layered and thoughtful framing of Vattakuzhy’s oeuvre, placing it within larger art historical and cultural trajectories while maintaining its deeply personal essence.
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