Chemould CoLab is hosting Sprouting Bodies, the debut solo exhibition of artist Umesh S., previewed on Thursday, September 11, 2025. The exhibition, which runs until October 24, 2025, presents a layered body of work spanning terracotta and found-object sculptures, paintings, watercolours, lithographs, and recorded performance, all grappling with the ongoing agrarian crisis in India.
Born in Bhojpur, Bihar, in 1992, Umesh comes from a lineage of farmers. His family, like many others, was forced to abandon agriculture, disrupting intergenerational knowledge systems and social bonds. This rupture forms the foundation of his work, driven by what he describes as “rage over fading respect for the farmer’s intelligence which sustained entire communities.” Rather than romanticising loss or rural dispossession, Umesh builds an unflinching artistic language that carries defiance.
The exhibition’s terracotta sculptures embody this approach most distinctly, depicting distorted figures—part human, part tool—emerging as “sprouting bodies.” Jagged surfaces, dark earthen tones, and recurring motifs of farmers and farming implements appear across his paintings and prints, resisting sentimentality. Even in performance, his work echoes this intensity, making visible the resilience and violence embedded in agrarian life.
Many of the materials in Umesh’s practice are drawn from Bhojpur and Varanasi, including obsolete farming tools, rope fragments, and parasitic wood. Though not always physically present in the exhibition, their absence is palpable, transforming into a charged aesthetic of unease. His works reflect accumulation rather than singular gestures, tracing memory, loss, and resistance across media.
Alongside the preview, the artist will unveiled a new performance at Chemould CoLab on Saturday, September 13, 2025. Conceived as a dialogue around agrarian knowledge systems, the performance underscores Umesh’s continued engagement with the complexities of rural communities.
Umesh completed his BFA in Painting from Banaras Hindu University in 2017 and an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Hyderabad in 2019. His accolades include the Kala Sakshi Memorial Trust Scholarship (2018), the Tata Trust International Award at Students Biennale (2019), and participation in residencies such as Khoj Peers and Arthshila X Khoj Artists Residency. His exhibitions range from Call to Disorder at the Serendipity Arts Festival (2019) to Broken Foot: Unfolding Inequalities (2020) and Zones of Convergence and Divergence (2020).
Currently based in Varanasi, Umesh continues to map dialogues between agrarian metaphors, social and religious hierarchies, and spatial subjectivity. His practice articulates the fragility of rural livelihoods, issues of education and the environment, and the shifting place of farming in Indian society.
Sprouting Bodies at Chemould CoLab brings these themes into stark focus, offering an uncompromising exploration of memory, resilience, and the fractures of an agrarian world in transition.
All images courtesy of Chemould CoLab and Umesh S
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