‘Balraj Khanna: Lines of Flight’ – a joyous affirmation of life, colour and curiosity
British artist, born in Punjab, was mostly overlooked by the art establishment generally until the very end of his life; this new exhibition rightly centres him and is the late artist’s first major solo retrospective and is a revelation in many ways… (our video to follow)
WHETHER it is his use of colour or the depiction of the natural world, artist Balraj Khanna has something vital and brilliant to say about the world we all inhabit.
His paintings – around 40 – are now on display at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham until February next year and this represents the first major solo retrospective of his work ever mounted.
It was towards the end of his life that the Tate purchased two of his works but – until then and despite a long and prominent career – he was not well recognised by the UK art establishment.
It is somewhat fitting that this first major retrospective exhibition now takes place in Birmingham, where his largest work and commission – the safety curtain at the Birmingham Hippodrome – remains and celebrates its 25th year.
We visited the gallery and spoke to his family – see the video (below) and our interviews with wife Francine, and daughters Kaushalia and Rani reveal the deep engagement and profound way Khanna approached his work.
He also had a successful career as an author, writing both fiction and non-fiction.
A new monograph (book) with pictures of his work is also out and contains essays by art historians assessing his legacy. (See below for details of ‘Balraj Khanna: Lines of Flight’). It is the major reference work of its kind detailing Khanna’s artistic output.
Antonio Blocker, artistic director exhibitions (maternity cover) at Ikon Gallery, said: “‘Balraj Khanna: Lines of Flight’ offers a long-overdue recognition of an artist whose work bridges cultures, geographies and generations, highlighting his significant contribution to post-war British abstraction.”
His works deal with questions of migration, Partition, identity and belonging – Blocker, Francine, Kaushalia and Rani Khanna all talk about this in their interviews with us (see below). There is a huge sense of expansion, inquiry and possibility in his work.
Born in Jhang (now Pakistan), Khanna lived in Britain from 1962 and produced work over a six decade period – enjoying his first solo show in 1965 and then exhibiting widely here, and in France (where his wife was from) and the US.
Self taught, his association with the natural world was heightened after suffering a minor moped injury in 1965 and recuperating near Metz, France at the home of his French brother-in-law. It was during this period, his work began to form a confident assertive identity around abstraction and the deployment of layered surfaces, “with the use of line and string, geometric forms and acute sense of spatial rhythm” says the Gallery.
There was more mixed media work from the 1980s through the 2010s, where he used sand, spray, stencil and mark-making “revealing a visual language that is both sensorial and meticulously constructed”.
Khanna’s largest canvas was the painted safety curtain at Birmingham Hippodrome (a multi-entertainment venue); There is a painting too which reflects this work, ‘Astral Dance’ (2001) and there is a five-minute film (‘Big Bang’) by filmmaker daughter Rani – in our interview, she reflects on what this means to her now that Khanna has passed.
There continue to be public programmes, curator-led tours and learning initiatives around the exhibition itself and the Hippodome safety curtain.
Listing
Balraj Khanna ‘Lines of Flight’ (September 30)-February 21 2027
Ikon Gallery, 1 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HS
Free entry – https://www.ikon-gallery.org/exhibition/balraj-khanna
