Nidhi Agarwal’s ‘The Dichotomous Salon’ Explores Identity and Materiality at Nature Morte
Nature Morte presents 'The Dichotomous Salon', a compelling new exhibition by Nidhi Agarwal. Featuring large-scale collage drawings, the show investigates human identity and social dichotomies through layered portraits and found materials. On view until 22 March 2025.
New Delhi’s Nature Morte gallery presents The Dichotomous Salon, a striking solo exhibition by artist Nidhi Agarwal, showcasing a new body of large-scale works on paper. Running until 22 March 2025, the show offers a compelling exploration of human complexity through a fusion of drawing and collage, where the interplay of found materials and layered compositions transforms discarded objects into poignant reflections on identity, memory, and coexistence.
Agarwal’s pieces—some exceeding ten feet in length—are characterised by their intricate textural depth. Employing a process that combines portraiture with collaged materials such as torn pages from books, magazines, and notebooks, the artist constructs richly detailed surfaces where fragmented words and images become part of a larger visual and conceptual dialogue. Her works bear echoes of F.N. Souza’s expressive figuration, yet they are uniquely personal, shaped by her intuitive approach to materiality.
For Agarwal, the use of found and recycled materials is not merely an aesthetic choice but a philosophical one. She sees these remnants as carriers of meaning, capable of igniting new ideas and narratives:
“Even the tiniest shred of paper, cloth or a string lost to the wind or trash is a loss for me. So I collect them carefully… These bits of paper add so much meaning to my creative life that I keep them as a valuable currency.”
Her compositions reflect the dichotomies inherent in human existence—the coexistence of harmony and conflict, tradition and modernity, order and chaos. Her large portrait drawings emerge as symbolic representations of individuals shaped by their personal histories, cultural backgrounds, and social dynamics. Through her layered process, Agarwal examines the complexity of identity and the forces that shape it.
At the heart of The Dichotomous Salon is the notion that contradictions define us. The artist describes her work as a “symposium of mercurial logicians,” where personalities once perceived as homogeneous reveal themselves to be deeply fragmented and unique. The exhibition invites viewers to engage with this tension, reflecting on how disparate elements—both visual and ideological—come together to shape the human experience.
Agarwal, a graduate of the College of Arts, Delhi, has exhibited extensively across India and internationally. Her solo exhibitions have been held at Nature Morte, Artist Center Gallery, and Dhoomimal Gallery, while her work has also been displayed at institutions such as the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, Greece; the Penza Museum in Russia; and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi. She is the recipient of the prestigious Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant and has participated in artist residencies worldwide, including the Art PARTage Residency in Mauritius and DrawInternational in France.
The Dichotomous Salon is on view at Nature Morte’s gallery space at #7 Poorvi Marg, New Delhi, from Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm. The gallery remains closed on Sundays.
