Drawing Room: Why Santanu Hazarika is inspired by Kunel Gaur’s art

Kunel Gaur’s Kumi series turns geometric shapes and Japanese graphic design into art. Are you getting early 2000s vibes too?

Even among Indian contemporary artists, Kunel Gaur’s work is unique. He mixes design concepts and artistic mediums in a way I haven’t seen before. He plays with a variety of architectural materials: Wood, concrete, resin, metal, acrylic paint, screen printing techniques, glass, electrical equipment. He even works with text, in the form of prose, poetry or both. Much of his work is inspired by the design movements of the 1950s, which saw the flowering functional design and brutalist architecture.

Gaur’s Kumi series is reminiscent of 2000s Japanese visuals, down to the text and colours.

Gaur plays around with Japanese visuals in many of his artworks.

Take Me to Wonderland, Gaur’s early work, pays tribute to Alice in Wonderland.