ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
British-Indian artist to showcase work at Ikon gallery
The exhibition will bring together more than 40 works spanning six decades of Khanna's artistic career.
-
Malvika Choudhary - Tue, 04, Aug 2026
- 14:54 EDT
- 23
Balraj Khanna / balrajkhanna.com
Birmingham's Ikon Gallery will present the first major survey exhibition of British-Indian artist Balraj Khanna from Sept. 30, showcasing more than 40 paintings spanning six decades of his career.
Titled Lines of Flight, the free exhibition will run through Feb. 21, 2027, offering the most comprehensive overview of Khanna's work to date. The exhibition traces the evolution of his abstract practice, shaped by his childhood in the Punjab region, his migration to Britain and his enduring engagement with the natural world.
Also Read: First India Community and Cultural Centre inaugurated in Redmond
Born in Jhang, Punjab–now in Pakistan–Khanna witnessed the Partition of India in 1947 before moving to London in 1962. A self-taught artist, he developed a distinctive artistic language informed by migration, memory, landscape and cultural exchange.
The exhibition brings together rarely seen works from the 1960s and 1970s alongside large-scale paintings created between the 1970s and early 2000s. Early works inspired by the forests near Metz, France, are displayed alongside later paintings exploring childhood memories, diasporic identity, postcolonial politics and humanity's relationship with nature.
A road accident in 1965 marked a turning point in Khanna's artistic practice. During his recovery near the Forêt de Saint-Bernard in Metz, France, he developed an abstract style characterized by layered surfaces, line and string, organic and geometric forms, and a strong sense of spatial rhythm.
Khanna joined the Indian Painters Collective in 1964, which promoted the representation of Indian artists in Britain. After his first solo exhibition in 1965, he exhibited across the United Kingdom, France and the United States.
His work has since been recognized through inclusion in The Other Story at Hayward Gallery in 1989, a display at Tate Britain in 2024, and acquisitions by major public collections including Tate Britain, Arts Council England and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The exhibition also marks the 25th anniversary of Astral Dance (2001), Khanna's monumental painted safety curtain for Birmingham Hippodrome.
To mark the milestone, Ikon Gallery and Birmingham Hippodrome will jointly present public programs, curator-led tours and educational initiatives centered on the commission and Khanna's broader body of work.
A fully illustrated monograph published by Ikon and distributed by Art Data will accompany the exhibition. It includes newly commissioned essays by leading art historians, archival material and writing on Khanna's Birmingham Hippodrome commission.
The exhibition will also feature a program of talks, family activities and educational events. Admission is free.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
Leave A Comment
Related
.jpg)
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login