Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi, will open a new solo exhibition by artist Om Soorya titled Place No Trace / Trace No Place: The Luminous Twilight on January 24, 2026. The exhibition will remain on view until February 21, 2026, at the gallery’s space in Golf Links.
Curated by Shalmali Shelly, the exhibition presents a new suite of paintings that transform landscapes into expansive, immersive terrains that oscillate between the real and the imaginary. From a distance, Soorya’s compositions appear as cohesive, monumental structures, while at closer view, they disintegrate into intricate topographical and architectural details. This interplay between coherence and fragmentation turns the act of viewing into a dynamic, almost performative experience.
In this body of work, Soorya explores the tension between presence and erasure. His carefully calibrated colour fields evoke spatial stillness yet carry an undercurrent of temporal movement—suggesting cities, boulevards, forests, and mandala-like formations that emerge and dissolve within a luminous, twilight-toned expanse. The artist’s landscapes resist geographic specificity; instead, they operate as “inscapes” or “mindscapes,” where memory, myth, and imagination overlap.
According to the curatorial essay, the exhibition reflects environments in transition—shaped by urbanisation, ecological precarity, and ideological transformation. The twilight, as a metaphorical condition, situates these works within an in-between time: neither day nor night, past nor present. The result is a meditative reflection on belonging, displacement, and the persistence of memory in a rapidly changing world.
Born in 1977 in Kannur, Kerala, Om Soorya completed his BFA in Painting from the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram (2002) and an MFA from the University of Hyderabad (2004), followed by a PhD from the University of Calicut (2021). His artistic practice integrates archetypal motifs into landscape-based imagery, blending personal recollection with collective symbolism.
Soorya has exhibited widely across India and internationally, including in Switzerland, Italy, China, Hong Kong, and the United States. His previous solo shows include exhibitions at The Guild (Mumbai and New York), Vadehra Art Gallery (New Delhi), Galleria dell’Arco (Shanghai), Kalakriti Art Gallery (Hyderabad), and earlier presentations at Palette Art Gallery. In 2007, he received the Emerging Artist Award from the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) and has participated in several artist residencies, including at the University of Houston, Texas.
Place No Trace / Trace No Place: The Luminous Twilight offers a contemplative viewing experience that reconsiders the relationship between landscape, time, and identity.
The exhibition opens to the public on January 24, 2026 and continues through February 21, 2026 at Palette Art Gallery, 14 Golf Links, New Delhi.
Athmaja Biju is the Editor at Abir Pothi. She is a Translator and Writer working on Visual Culture.
