J M S Mani

Born in Bangalore in 1949. Mani obtained his Diploma in drawing and painting from the Ken School of Art, Bangalore that was founded by the great Karnataka Artist Hadapad, and later rose to be Principal of his Alma Mater. He won the Karnataka Lalit Kala Academy Award thrice in the 80’s and the IFAC award in 2000. He has had several solo shows and has participated in art camps and important exhibitions. His works have been exhibited at The Paul Gallery, Singapore in 1990, the Kufa Gallery, London in 1993, the Lee Arthur Studio in New York in 1994, the Mall Gallery, London in 1995. He has also exhibited in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Germany.
Mani explores the rusticity of the Badami people with the boldness of his strokes and creates a drama with his play of colour and texture. Badami was the hometown of Hadapad and the artist in Mani made painting the simple folk people his lifetime obsession. His body of work spans his adult lifetime. He has shown Badami men and women most often in a seated pose selling flowers, garlands, fruits, roosters….living a slow paced life. Mani’s repetitiveness of this theme underscores his own longing for a type of life that now belongs to the past.
He lived and worked in Bangalore. He passed away in 2021.