Artists > Nihaal Faizal
Nihaal Faizal’s works respond to the copy, the replica, the remake, the gadget, and the gimmick. He is based in Bangalore, India, where he founded Reliable Copy, a publishing house for works, projects, and writing by artists.
Previous and forthcoming solo exhibitions include (video art) at Bill’s PC (Fremantle, 2023), ‘Special FX’ at Blueprint12 (New Delhi, 2022), and ‘The Real Taste of India’ at Mumbai Art Room (with Chinar Shah, Mumbai, 2017). Recent and forthcoming group exhibitions include ‘Bare Acts’ at Shrine Empire (New Delhi, 2023), ‘Proposals for a Memorial to Partition’ at 12G (Philadelphia, 2023), ‘How to know what’s really happening’ at Betonhalle in silent green Kulturquartier (Berlin, 2023), and ‘How to reappear: Through the quivering leaves of independent publishing III’ at Kochi- Muziris Biennale (Kochi, 2022-23).
Profile
b. 1994
Education
2018 Home Workspace Programme, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, Lebanon
2016 BCA in CAP, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, India
Solo Exhibitions:
2023 red curtains opening, Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai, India
2022 Special FX, Blueprint12, New Delhi, India
2017 The Real Taste of India, Mumbai Art Room, Bombay, India (with Chinar Shah)
2011 More Automobiles Than Are Parkable, David Hall, Fort Kochi, India
2010 Freedom Road, Vernissage Art Gallery, Cochin, India
Group Exhibitions:
2023 Bare Acts, Shrine Empire, New Delhi, India (forthcoming)
2023 Proposals for a Memorial to Partition, 12G, Philadelphia, USA (forthcoming)
2023 Gathering, The Corner Gallery, New York, USA (forthcoming)
2023 How to know what’s really happening, Betonhalle in silent green Kulturquartier, Berlin, Germany
2022 How to Reappear, TKM Warehouse, Kochi, India
2022 Lot 49, The Luminary, St. Louis, USA
2022 Parsec, Gallery Ark, Baroda, India
2022 Copy Right, India International Centre, New Delhi, India
2021 at the kitchen table, 1Shanthiroad Studio/Gallery, Bangalore, India
2021 First Look, New Museum and Rhizome, online
2021 DCAW – Blueprint12, Bikaner House, New Delhi, India
2021 Platform, Blueprint12, online
2020 Escaleras Futuras, Galería Santa Fé, Bogota, Colombia
2019 Sickle & Code, Museum of History and Cultural Heritage, Lakatamia, Cyprus
2019 View: India, Landskrona Museum, Landskrona, Sweden
2019 Between Dog and Wolf, Home Sweet Home, New Delhi, India
2017 Double Road, whiteBOX, Munich, Germany
2017 Common Ground #3, Kleine Humboldt Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2017 ARCADE, Klara Kiss Zip Space, Zurich, Switzerland
2017 Material Light, Mill Hall, Mattanchery, Kerala, India
2017 #exstrange, e-Bay and www.exstrange.com, online
2016 3BHK, Home Sweet Home, Heritage Apartments, Fort Cochin, India
2016 Document V, The Luminary, St.Louis, USA
2016 Edit 4, CEMA Gallery, Srishti Old Campus, Yelahanka New Town, India
2016 A Bit to Eat, Taste of India Restaurant, Yelahanka New Town, India
2015 Templates for Everyone, We’ll Figure It Out, Yelahanka New Town, India
2015 Common Ground #2, Clark House Initiative, Bombay, India
2015 Where the Heart Is, Home Sweet Home, Bangalore, India
2014 The C(h)roma Show, Croma Store, Bangalore, India
2014 Now Showing, Rex Theatre, Bangalore, India
2013 Lost Thoughts and Found Ideas, G.159, Yelahanka New Town, India
2012 GenNext VI, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata, India
Screenings:
2023 Record Store Day, The Courtyard, Bangalore, India
2022 We are the Aliens we are Looking for, 1Shanthiroad Studio/Gallery, Bangalore, India
2021 from cinema, Artists in (R)evolution Collective, online
2020 Cinemagora, UNI, Zurich, Switzerland
2020 06/02/20, Kinoclub Fallow, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2019 Sharjah Film Platform, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2016 Self as Document, Srishti Grad Show, Bangalore, India
Lectures, Panels and Workshops:
2022 What Future Hides at Bikaner House, Take on Art, New Delhi, India (panel)
2022 The Age of the Photograph, Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, Kochi (symposium)
2022 Staging the Contemporary, Ishara Art Foundation, online (panel)
2021 FHOT Photobook Lab F21, Paris College of Art, online (lecture)
2021 SECOND(light), Booked: Art Book Pop-Ups, Tai Kwun, online (lecture)
2020 Perspectives on Photobooks, Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, online (panel)
2020 Reliable Copy, Guftgu Talk Series, Offset Projects, online (lecture)
2020 Publishing Maneuvers Symposium, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi, UAE (seminar)
2019 Publishing in an Expanded Field, Gallery Ark, Baroda, India (lecture)
2019 How to Make Flubber, Thkio Ppalies, Nicosia, Cyprus (lecture & workshop)
2019 Haleema Hashim’s Photographs, Akademin Valand, Gothenburg, Sweden (lecture)
Residencies:
2023 Amant Foundation – Studio and Research Residency Program, New York, USA (forthcoming)
2021 Homebound Residency: Digital Communities, Warehouse421, online
2019 ZK/U, Berlin, Germany (supported by Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore)
2015 1Shanthiroad Studio/Gallery, Bangalore, India
Grants:
2023 India Foundation for the Arts – Research Grant (for Reliable Copy)
2022 New York University Abu Dhabi – Research Kitchen Grant
2021 Sharjah Art Foundation – FOCAL POINT (for Reliable Copy)
2021 India Foundation for the Arts – Explorations
2020 Rhizome – Info-Wars Microgrant
2020 Experimenter – GENERATOR Cooperative Art Production Fund (with Chinar Shah)
2020 India Foundation for the Arts – Research Grant (for Reliable Copy)
2020 Akar Prakar Contemporary – ArtVarta Publishing Grant
2017 Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation – Mumbai Art Room Exhibition Grant (with Chinar Shah)
Curatorial:
2018 Reliable Copy, Bangalore, India (publishing house)
2016 3BHK, Fort Cochin, India (exhibition)
2014 Ummijaan: Making Visible a World Within, Mattancherry, India (exhibition)
2013-16 G.159, Bangalore, India (project space)
Texts:
2023 Interview with Suman Gopinath and Edgar Demello – Home Sweet Home
2023 Interview with Sreshta Rit Premnath – Home Sweet Home
2023 Two Poems – ASAP Art
2022 Extensions and Expansions – IDEAS Journal (with Samira Bose and Sarasija Subramanian)
2022 Nostalgia as Special Effects – BOMB (with Anisha Baid)
2021 TP:S3 – HOAX
2021 at the kitchen table (adjust as per taste) – MARCH (with Arushi Vats & Sarasija Subramanian)
2021 Lightning Fast Body Temp. – Tariff Mag
2021 M.K. Stickers – Rhizome
2021 Luminous Enhancement – Photo South Asia
2021 Reliable Display Copy Distribute – MARCH (with Elaine W. Ho)
2020 Reliable Display Copy Distribute – BKKABF Open Access (with Elaine W. Ho)
2020 Interview with Mario Santanilla – BOMB
2019 Interview with Niclas Ostlind and Niyatee Shinde – Buchhandlung Walther König
2017 Interview with Charu Maithani – PROPRIOCEPTION
2017 Lines from Sci-Fi – Poetry Wales Magazine
2016 On the Figuring Out of Things – Temporary Art Review
2015 Exhibition Review: Drive by Video – Temporary Art Review