Sarnath Banerjee is an artist and filmmaker widely known as India’s first graphic novelist. His semi-autobiographical graphic novels, Corridor (2004) and The Barn Owl’s Wondrous Capers (2007), layer history, mythology and popular culture with insights on contemporary urban life. The Harappa Files, published by Harper Collins in 2011, departs from the structure of the graphic novel and is described as a loose collection of graphic commentaries on India as a “fast capitalizing society suffering from bi-polar disorder. A recent project called “Gallery of Losers” of “sportings near-misses” sponsored by the Frieze Foundation was displayed on billboards in East London during the 2012 Olympics. Banerjee’s films include “Gods Left Hand” on patriarchy and female infanticide.

Born in Calcutta in 1972, Banerjee studied biochemistry at Delhi University and received an MA in image and communications from Goldsmiths College in London. His work has been part of numerous national and international exhibitions and festivals, including “Lines of Control” at the Johnson Museum Cornell University (2012), “Cynical Love, Life in the Everyday” at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in Delhi (2012), Hong Kong Art Fair (2012), “Paris-Delhi-Bombay” at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2011), “Indian Highway” at the Serpentine Gallery in London (2011), Frieze Art Fair (2009 and 2011), “Chalo India” at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2009), the Sao Paolo Biennial (2008), and “Horn Please” at the Kunstmuseum Bern (2007).

Sarnath Banerjee’s work is represented by Project 88 Gallery in Kolkata where he has had several solo exhibitions from 2008 to 2012. Awards and fellowships include the MacArthur Indian Foundation for the Arts and the Charles Wallace Trust Award. He presently lives and works in New Delhi.

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