Manjit Bawa: I Was Born a Poet …

Paintings and drawings by Manjit Bawa (1941-2008), a modernist master of 20th-century Indian figuration whose work is distinguished by expressive line and colour. To 30 April.

The exhibition marks the inauguration of Volte Art Projects’ new Alserkal Avenue space under the name Volte Masters – the focus of which “will be to showcase international modern masters and create new art historical dialogues around their work”.

The main direction would appear to be the promotion of modern Indian masters in particular; for Alserkal Art Week, two works by the noted Indian video artist Nalini Malani are being presented by Alserkal Avenue with support from Volte Art Projects. Curated by Nada Raza, Director of Alserkal Arts Foundation, these will be at Concrete between 25 February and 3 March – an evening outdoor projection of the multimedia installation Ballad of a Woman (2023), with Malani’s 2020 Whitechapel commission Can You Hear Me? showing inside the space.

Above: Manjit Bawa, Krishna (offset print). Below: Nalini Malani, Can You Hear Me? (2019-2020) (still)