Dhruva Mistry was born in Kanjari, Gujarat, India, in 1957 and studied art in Vadodara (also known as Baroda). In 1981, he moved to London, England, to take up a British Council Scholarship at the Royal College of Art, and went on to establish a successful career as a sculptor before returning to Vadodara.
Sculptor Dhruva Mistry was born in the village of Kanjari, Gujarat, India, in 1957. Between 1974 and 1981, he studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao (MS) University of Baroda, where his artistic education included rigorous studio practice in modelling, moulding, casting and carving, working with plaster, metal, fibreglass, wood and stone, and the theory and history of art. Through his studies, he developed his interests in image, form, structure, material and surface, and learnt about a variety of working methods and materials. He moved to London, England, in 1981 after gaining a British Council Scholarship to the Royal College of Art (RCA), where he studied until 1983. Mistry later reflected: 'It was curiosity, desire and a British Council Scholarship which brought me to Britain in 1981. From Britain I was to perceive Europe and the West through my travels and experiences. I set out to test myself against my notions of the world around me; at times finding myself at odds with it. It was an opportunity to see myself and India from afar' (Cross-Sections, p. 10).
After completing his studies at the RCA, Mistry found numerous opportunities for exhibitions, commissions and teaching. He was artist in residence at Kettle's Yard Gallery, with a Fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge, between 1984 and 1985. An exhibition at Kettle's Yard in 1985 was followed by further displays of his work at Arnolfini Arts, Bristol, Mostyn Art Gallery, Llandudno, and the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, in 1986. He also participated in numerous group exhibitions in the 1980s, including Contemporary Indian Art at the Royal Academy, London, From the Figure at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, A Journey through Contemporary Art for the Hayward Annual, London, and Sculpture in the City in Bath. He also produced works for Garden Festivals at Liverpool (1984), Stoke on Trent (1986), and Glasgow (1988). In 1988, he was sculptor in residence at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. He subsequently represented Britain at the Third Rodin Grand Prize Exhibition in Japan in 1990.
By this time, Mistry had established his reputation as a significant figure in British sculpture. He was elected an Academician (RA) at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1991, and in 1993 he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (FRBS). In 1992, he won an international competition held by Birmingham City Council to design sculptures for Victoria Square in Birmingham. The resulting sculptural groups, The River and Youth set in a fountain, accompanied by The Guardians and Object (Variations), won numerous awards, including the Landscape Institute and The Marsh Fountain of the Year Award. In 1998, Mistry was selected for the Millennium Medal Competition, London. He was awarded a CBE in 2001 in recognition of his important contribution to British art. His body of work encompasses monumental public installations, small-scale maquettes and wall reliefs, and Mistry is known for using a variety of materials and ancient and modern sources to explore cultural tensions. He has drawn inspiration from Indian, Chinese, Assyrian, Egyptian, African, Greek, and Cycladic art, from Indian religion and cultural traditions, European figurative sculpture, and from mythological themes. From 2001, he has experimented with laser-cutting techniques for his sculptures, using computer-aided design software to experiment with shapes, planes and angles.
In 1997, Mistry returned to Vadodara (Baroda) where he was Professor, Head of Sculpture and Dean of Faculty of Fine Arts at MS University of Baroda until 2002. Dhruva Mistry lives and works in Vadodara (Baroda). His work is held in numerous UK collections, including Tate, Arts Council, British Council, the V&A Museum, and the National Museum of Wales. His public installations include sculptural works at Victoria Square, Birmingham; Otterspool Promenade, Liverpool; Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. His work featured in the Ben Uri online exhibition Midnight's Family: 70 Years of Indian Artists in Britain in 2020.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Dhruva Mistry]
Publications related to [Dhruva Mistry] in the Ben Uri Library