Dhruva Mistry

(b. 1957, Kanjari, Gujarat, India)

Mistry studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University, Vadodara, India, from 1974-81, and progressed to the Royal College of Art, London, on a British Council Scholarship. His first solo exhibition in 1982 toured from Art Heritage, New Delhi to the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai. In 1984, he became Artist in Residence at Kettle’s Yard, with a Fellowship at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, and was Sculptor in Residence at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in 1988. In 1991, he was elected a Royal Academician. In 1992 he was commissioned to design public sculptures for Victoria Square, Birmingham, and was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors the following year. He has represented Britain at various international art exhibitions. Returning to India in 1997, he was Professor, Head of Sculpture and Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at M S University, Vadodara, May 1999 until Oct 2002. After a period of ill health, Mistry found new materials and techniques to continue to display his sculptural virtuosity, particularly using AutoCAD technology to create brilliantly -coloured small works, breaking the 3D forms into a set of flat steel planes. Mistry was awarded an Honorary CBE in 2001 for his contribution to British art.

Mistry currently lives and works in Baroda.

Courtesy: Ben Uri Museum, London