Dhruva Mistry was born in Kanjari, Gujarat, India, in 1957. He studied sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University of Baroda (1974-79), graduating with distinction and a gold medal. He went on to gain an MA at Baroda (1979-81) and then came to Britain on a British Council scholarship to take an MA in sculpture at the Royal College…
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Dhruva Mistry was born in Kanjari, Gujarat, India, in 1957. He studied sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University of Baroda (1974-79), graduating with distinction and a gold medal. He went on to gain an MA at Baroda (1979-81) and then came to Britain on a British Council scholarship to take an MA in sculpture at the Royal College of Art (1981-83).
From 1983 to 1996 Mistry pursued his career as a sculptor in Britain, with residencies at Kettles Yard Gallery, Cambridge, and fellowships at Churchill College (1984-85) and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (1988). He received many awards in this thirteen-year period, including the Third Rodin Grand Prize Exhibition, Japan (1990); the Jack Goldhill award (1991); the Humanities Prize medal award at 'Fukuoka Annual VII', Fukuoka, Japan (1994); the Design Presidents award for the Victoria Square Sculptures, the Landscape Institute and Marsh Fountain of the Year award for Victoria Square, Birmingham (1995). He was elected Royal Academician in 1991 and made Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1993. He returned to Vadadora in 1997 and was appointed Professor, Head of Sculpture and Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Baroda. In 2001, he was awarded an Honorary CBE.
The rich imagery and narrative content of Indian art, the highly developed skills of a dedicated sculptor working in a culture not his own and an independence of mind which channels effort absolutely have all contributed to Dhruva Mistry's success. His work ranges from huge public commissions to maquettes and wall reliefs, related in part to Hinduism and Buddhism, but also encompassing influences from the West - Egyptian and Cycladic art and European traditions of figurative sculpture. Not all of his work is narrative; in some pieces he explores the processes of making art and the inevitable intellectual debate that ensues between artist and viewer, whether implied or expressed.
