Future exhibition
Sudarshan Shetty – A Breath Held Long
07.06.2026 – 18.08.2026
Sudarshan Shetty (born 1961 in Mangalore, India) is one of India’s most important contemporary artists. In sculptures, installations, and cross-media works, he explores existential themes such as transience, memory, labor, and spirituality. His often mechanically animated works are characteristic, transforming everyday objects into poetic symbols of time, ritual, and the cycles of life. Shetty combines traditional Indian imagery with a reduced, contemporary formal language. He gained international recognition through his participation in documenta in Kassel (2002) and the Venice Biennale (1997, 2005). As a conceptual artist, Sudarshan Shetty is known for his enigmatic, hybrid constructions that address the fusion of Indian and Western traditions and explore the concept of movement. Breath plays a fundamental role in this new approach, questioning our living space.
The exhibition is divided into two parts and is centered around the film A Breath Held Long, in which Sudarshan Shetty explores life in Mumbai in a compelling and poetic way. City, urbanity, and the rhythm of life are interwoven. The 20- to 25-minute video is accompanied by objects based on nine to ten texts by the artist, some autobiographical, some fictional, reflecting various facets of urban life. Three new sculptural ensembles complement the presentation and symbolically encapsulate life in the city.
Despite his international acclaim, Shetty has not yet been featured in a major solo exhibition in Europe.
The exhibition is supported by the Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation, Aachen.
Sudarshan Shetty, Ansicht der Installation „A breath held long“, 2025, © Courtesy of the artist