Chittrovanu Mazumdar (born 13 October 1956, Paris, France) is a prominent contemporary Indian artist of Bengali-Indian and French descent, widely recognised for his eclectic and innovative approach to art.
He is best known for his multimedia installation art, conceptual works, and painting, and is often described as a conceptual artist and post-structuralist, although his oeuvre resists easy classification. Mazumdar’s practice encompasses a broad spectrum of media, including painting, large-scale installations, sound, light, and a diverse array of materials, reflecting his belief that art should be open to the viewer’s interpretation rather than constrained by labels.
Mazumdar is the son of Nirode Mazumdar, a celebrated Indian Modernist painter and co-founder of the Calcutta Group, and his French mother, Marguerite Mazumdar. Raised in Kolkata and rural Jharkhand, he was exposed to both Indian and European artistic traditions from an early age. He graduated with First Class First in Painting from the Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata, in 1981.
He first gained prominence as a painter in the 1980s and 1990s, with his debut solo exhibition in Kolkata in 1985 at the Academy of Fine Arts, presented by the Seagull Foundation for the Arts. Over the next decade and a half, he held numerous solo exhibitions across India, establishing his reputation for innovation and experimentation. In 1991, he became the third artist to exhibit at the prestigious Durbar Hall at Victoria Memorial, Kolkata. His international breakthrough came in 1997 with a solo show at Bose Pacia Modern Gallery in New York.
From the late 1990s onwards, Mazumdar expanded his practice to include large-scale multimedia installations. Notable projects include “New Work” (2004), a multi-sensory environment in Kolkata, and “undated: Nightskin” (2009, Dubai; 2012, Kolkata), which was acclaimed for its immersive, site-specific experience. His work has been exhibited in major cities worldwide, including London, Paris, Rome, New York, Dubai, and Salzburg, and is held in collections such as the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
Mazumdar’s art continues to challenge, inspire, and engage audiences, both in India and internationally, through its commitment to open-ended interpretation and experiential richness.