Riyas Komu

Riyas Komu, born in 1971, Kerala. He completed his post-graduation in Art from Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai in 1999. Riyas is a multimedia artist working with sculpture, paintings, video and installations.

He has exhibited his works extensively and some of his significant solo shows include Out of Place, Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore, 2019; Holy Shiver, Vadehra Art, New Delhi, 2018; On International Works’ Day, Gandhi from Kochi, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi & Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, 2015; Condition/Duroohatha, Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, 2015; Subrato to César, Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, 2010; Safe to Light, Azad Gallery, Tehran, Iran, 2010, Related List, Bodhi Berlin, Germany, 2008; Mark Him (Second half), Gallery 88, Kolkata, 2008; Mark Him(First half) The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2007; Systematic Citizen, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2006; Faith Accompli, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, 2006; The Third Day, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, 2005; Grass, photography show, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2005; Sarasu, photography show on Raja Ravi Verma's Malvalli Press, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2003; Unconditional, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, 2002; Ambulance, Renaissance Art Gallery, Bangalore, 2002-2003.

He is the ideator of Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Co-Founder of Kochi Biennale Foundation in 2010 & was the Director of Programmes of the Kochi Biennale Foundation-2012, 2014, 2016. Riyas has Co-curated the first edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2012. He has also been the Advisor and Visual Arts Curator for Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa in 2016 & 2017 and has conceptualized and curated the 'Young Sub-Continent' project since 2016, 2017 & 2018 for Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa. He has co-curated first International Football Film Festival in India at Goa International Film Festival and Trivandrum International Film Festival in 2012. He is Founder & Director of URU Art Harbour, a cultural hub in Mattancherry, Kochi, focussing on research on Local Culture and Maritime History.

Some of the selected group exhibitions include Power of Site curated by Lorena Guillen Vaschetti and Adam Jeppesen, Nirox Sculpture Park, Johannesburg, SA, 2019; India Re-Worlded: Seventy Years of Investigating a Nation, curated by Arshiya Lokhandwala, Gallery Odyssey, Mumbai, 2018; The Great Game, Iranian Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale, 2015; The Missing Pavilion, by Gayatri Sinha for JNU, New Delhi, 2014; Insportsration, Project Fullfill Art Space, Taipei, 2013; India – Lado A Lado, India – Side by Side, for SESC Belenzinho and Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, curated by Terezo de Arruda, 2012; Contemporary Indian Art, curated by Chaitanya Sambrani for Art Chennai, 2012; Inde, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2011; Of Gods and Goddesses, Cinema, Cricket, Jogja Biennale, Indonesia, 2011; India Awakens – Under the Banyan Tree, Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria, 2010; Gwangju Biennale, 2010; Beyond Globalization, Beyond Art Space, Beijing, China, 2010; Indian Highway, The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, 2009; Indian Popular Culture and Beyond. The Untold (the Rise of) Schisms, curated by Shaheen Merali, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain, 2009; Threshold: Forging Narratives in South Asian Contemporary Art, Aicon Gallery, New York, 2009; India Crossing, Studio la Città, Verona, Italy, 2008; Everything, Willem Baars Project, Amsterdam, 2008; Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind, 52nd Venice Biennale, curated by Robert Storr, 2007; Kashi ten light years, Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, 2007; Milan Museum show, curated by Daniella Polizolli, 2007; Bronze, sculpture show, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, 2006; Art on the Beach, Made by Indians, St. Tropez by Gallery Enrico Navarra, Paris, 2006; Span, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, 2005; Double Enders, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Cochin, 2005; World Social Forum, Brazil, 2005; Group show during VASL Residency, Karachi, 2004; Bombay Boys, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2004; Crossing Generations: Diverge, 40 years of Gallery Chemould, National Gallery of Modern Art, 2003; 2D/3D, Visual Art Center, Hong Kong, 2003; Ways of Resisting 1992- 2002, Sahmat/ Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, 2002; Words and Images, The Guild Art Gallery/ National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, 2002; Harmony Shows – 2004 to 1999; Tribute to Picasso, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai. 2001; The Human Factor, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2001; Memos of the New Millennium from Artists of the Moulting World, curated by Abhay Sardesai, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Mumbai, 2000; Exile Longings, Lakeeren Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2000; Critic's Choice Ideas and Images, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, 1999; Essays in time, kinetic sculptures, Nehru Center, Mumbai, 1998.

Riyas lives & works in Mumbai.