Mahirwan Mamtani: Everywhere a Stranger, Everywhere at Home by Prabuddha Ghosh

Mahirwan Mamtani: Everywhere a Stranger, Everywhere at Home 

by Prabuddha Ghosh

The ICIA Gallery Kala Ghoda, Mumbai presents Everywhere a Stranger, Everywhere at Home, an exhibition exploring the artistic vision of Mahirwan Mamtani, a significant figure in Indian modernism and the Neo-Tantric Art movement. Bringing together ten works from his Centrovision and Cosmic Geometry series of the 1990s, the exhibition offers an insight into the artist’s lifelong engagement with geometry, spirituality and the search for belonging.

Borrowed from the writings of German thinker Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the exhibition’s title captures the paradox of feeling both at home and a stranger. For Mamtani, born in 1935 in Sindh, this idea is rooted in personal history. Following Partition in 1947, he migrated to India with his family, an experience that profoundly shaped his artistic outlook. His search for belonging gradually moved beyond geographical identity towards an exploration of the inner self and the larger cosmic order.

Mamtani’s artistic language developed at the intersection of Indian tantric philosophy and European modernism. In 1966, he moved to Germany on a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. His exposure to the works of Piet Mondrian, Paul Klee and Kandinsky, alongside his engagement with Indian spiritual traditions, helped shape an approach that combines geometric precision with metaphysical inquiry.

As a practitioner of Neo-Tantric art, Mamtani transformed geometry into a vehicle for contemplation. His compositions are built around recurring geometric forms, symmetry and rhythmic patterns. A defining feature is the four-circle configuration, which evokes the four elements, directions and seasons, as well as the four-petalled lotus associated with the unfolding of consciousness. These forms are not merely decorative arrangements; they establish a visual order through which the relationship between the individual and the universe can be explored.

In the Centrovision series, forms draw the eye towards a central nucleus, creating a sense of concentration and stillness. The centre recalls the bindu of Tantric philosophy, understood as the primordial point of creation and the source of cosmic energy. In Cosmic Geometry, this structural language becomes more expansive, with intricate patterns, layered textures and shifting colors suggesting movement within an ordered universe. Across both series, repetition and symmetry lend the paintings a meditative quality, inviting viewers to look beyond their immediate visual appeal.

The exhibition presents five works in acrylic on woodcut and five in acrylic on canvas. Although limited to ten works, the selection offers audiences an opportunity to experience the range of Mamtani’s visual language. His varied color palettes, textural surfaces and carefully developed patterns create compositions that appear both precisely controlled and limitless in their associations. The presentation, curated by AstaGuru, makes the work of an artist widely recognized within the art fraternity accessible to a broader audience.

Mamtani’s practice has also extended beyond geometric abstraction into Mandala Conscious Beings and transmuted photographic imagery, exploring the relationship between form, identity and performance. This wider body of work demonstrates his continuing interest in how visual structures can communicate experiences that exceed the material world.

A recipient of the Lalit Kala Akademi’s National Award for Painting in 1978, Mamtani has exhibited internationally and his works are held in collections including the British Museum and the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

Ultimately, Everywhere a Stranger, Everywhere at Home presents art as a means of finding belonging beyond physical boundaries. Through geometry, color and spiritual symbolism, Mamtani transforms the experience of displacement into an enduring search for inner harmony, suggesting that home may be discovered not only in a place, but also within the vastness of consciousness and the cosmos.