Manjari Sharma

 

Biography
Manjari Sharma addresses issues of identity, multiculturalism, and personal myth. In her new series Surface Tension, Sharma further investigates the relationship between the human figure and water. Her practice is shaped by her cultural curiosity of the inner landscape of the human mind and it’s inextricable, elemental and sacred relationship to ritual and mythology.

Manjari Sharma was born in Mumbai, India, and moved to the US in 2001. Her projects have been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, NPR, Vice Magazine, and Forbes India, among many others. She has received numerous awards including the First Place Curator’s Choice award from CENTER in Santa Fe. In 2022, Sharma was a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant nominee and her recent exhibition “Expanding Darshan” is slated to travel from the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama to the Phoenix Museum of Art in Arizona. Sharma currently lives and works in Los Angeles. 

Our bodies are political but water is the tapestry that quilts our shared humanity. When the outer plane gets punctured, an inner world appears. Figures turn into landscapes, limbs into fins and shapes become amorphous, The patterns between this submergence and emergence is unpredictable and unrepeatable. My work represents my deep seated interest in studying, questioning and celebrating these transitory states of human imagination, history, and transformation. —Manjari Sharma

Education
2004
BFA, Media Studies, Still Photography, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH

2000
BSC, Visual Communication, S.V.T College, Mumbai, India

Exhibtions
2023
Surface Tension, Bishops Lodge presented by Richard Levy Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Surface Tension, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

2022
Seen and to be seen by, Darshan Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama

​2021
Mother, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany 
Mother, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, Denmark

2020
2020 Vision, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Transcendental Deities, curated by Elizabeth Horner, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

2019
Talking Pictures, Camera Phone Conversations Between Artists, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR
Parenthood, curated Selene Forster, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA

2018
Reinterpreting Religion, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL
Darshan, Ganna Walska LotusLand, Montecito, CA

2017
Reflections of India, Three Person Show, Kunst Museum De Moritzburg, Germany
Talking Pictures, Group Show, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Three Person Show, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

2016
Darshan, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
The Shower Series, Group Show Tasveer Journal, Sua House, Bangalore, India
The Shower Series, Group Show Tasveer Journal, Amethyst, Chennai, India
Group Show Tasveer Journal, The Harrington Street Arts Centre, Kolkata, India

2015
Context, Filter International Photo Festival, Panjim, India
Darshan, GOA International Photo Festival, Panjim, India
Organ Vida International Photography Festival, Zagreb, Croatia
Just Another Photo Festival, New Delhi, India
21 Artists at Exhibit 320, Taster Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

2014
Darshan, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Transcendent Deities of India: The Everyday Occurrence of the Divine, Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, TX
Houston Center of Photography, Group Exhibition, Houston, TX
Focus on CENTER, CCA Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
The Fence at Photoville, The Atlanta Beltline, Atlanta, GA
The Fence at Photoville, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn, NYRomeo & Juliet in Pictures: A Group Show, Sasha Wolf Gallery, New York, NY
Aperture Summer Open, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY
International Photofestival Lieden, 20 emerging American Photographers, September 18-28, Leiden, Netherlands

2013
The Shower Series, ClampArt, New York, NY
Darshan, ClampArt, New York, NY
Shots and Works Artist, Look 3, Charlottesville, VA, curated by Melissa Harris of Aperture Magazine, Yolanda Cuomo of Cuomo Design

2012
Social Order, Contemporary Women Photographers from Iran, India and Afganistan, Photo Center NW, Seattle WA

2011
About Face, Gallery 339, Philadelphia, PA
Double Consciousness, C Street Gallery, Laurel, MD
100 Portraits,  Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney,  Australia
Across the Divide,  Photo Center NW, Seattle ,WA

2010
Manjari Sharma, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (solo)
PhotoLust, Photographic Centre North West, Seattle, WA
Sultry II, Kris Graves Projects, Brooklyn, NY
Paani, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM (solo)
Elements of Water, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO

2009
Eye on The Strand, PDN Pratt Institute, CCPS Gallery, New York, NY

2008
Close Up, New York City, NY

2007
Sneakology, Nike ID Exhibition, Hamburg, Germany

Awards
2022
Nominated for the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant

 

2019
The Squire Foundation, Santa Barbara, CA

2016
Critical Mass Finalist, Photolucida

2015
Selected for On Our Radar Creative Capital Artist Feature

2014
First Place Curator’s Choice Award from CENTER, Santa Fe, NM
Arts Award, Hindu American Foundation, Washington, DC
Nominated, Alumni Award of Excellence, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH

2013
Selected for New York Times Portfolio Review

2012
Honorable Mention Santa Fe Prize

2011
Nominated for Santa Fe Prize 2012 and PDN 30 

2010
Best of ASMP NY
Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist
Selected to participate in Review Santa Fe 

2009
Selected for the Personal Vision workshop with Jorg Colberg of Conscientious and Robert Lyons, Northampton, MA
Third Place and Viewers Choice winner Strand Photo Contest, New York, NY
Invited to help produce Salaam Garage, Innovative photography workshop held in India 

2008
IPA Lucie Awards, Eight Honorable Mentions,
Invited be a board member for the American Society of Media Photographers NY Chapter, New York, NY

2007 Selected by Steve McCurry to research a National Geographic Project based in India, New York, NY
Invited to be interviewed on CNBC Awaaz, Mumbai, India,

2006 Invited by S.N.D.T. Women’s University for a lecture on photography, a career choice, Mumbai, India
Awarded Emerging Photographer scholarship ASMP, OH

2005
Invited to judge The Scholastics competition, Photography category, Columbus College of Art and Design, OH

2004
Invited to speak and show work at Society of Photographic Educators (SPE), Providence, RI

2003
Geraldine Warner Scholarship for excellence in Media Studies, Columbus College of Art and Design, OH

2001
Outstanding Achievement award, S.V.T. College, Mumbai, India

Press
2022
Ryan Michaels, To see and be seen by An eye-opening exhibit, The Birmingham Times, March 16

2020
Manjari Sharma, Love letter to America, Op-ed, The Santa Barbara Independent, July 16
Ancient Deities still Transcendent, The Alexander Report
Catherine Fox, Review: “Transcendent Deities” at Carlos brims with divine ideas, Arts Atlanta, January 29
Veena, Depictions of Indian gods and goddesses explored at Carlos Museum exhibition, NRI Pulse, January 15

2018
Charles Donelan, Manjari Sharma’s ‘Darshan’, Santa Barbara Independent, May 30

2017
Richard B. Woodward, Talking Pictures: Camera-Phone Conversations Between Artists’ Review: Photography in the Age of the IPhone, The Wall Street Journal, August 15
Susanne Christmann, Neue Schau in der Moritzburg: Farbenfroher Indischer Bilderkult, WochenSpiegel, July 26
Alexxa Gotthardt, Famous Artists Swap IPhone Photos- and Creativity Ensues, Artsy, July 24
Marten Siegmann, Ausstellung: “Reflections of India” eröffnet in Halle, dt Fotographie, July 21
Andrea Bruchwitz, Die Faszination Indiens: Fotoausstellung „Reflections of India“ in Halle, White Wall Magazin, July 20
Roberta Smith, An Exhibition Worth Thousands of Words, The New York Times, July 6
Sebastian Moll, Handy-Fotografie Künstler verständigen sich nur mit Smartphone-Bildern, Berlins Zeitung, July 4
Ulrike Thielmann, Reflections of India Halle zeigt widersprüchliches Indien, MDR KULTUR, June 28
Mateo Sancho Cardiel, El Metropolitan abre sus puertas a las fotos hechas con móvil, Rl Pais, June 27
Emily Esfahani Smith, Chapter on Darshan, The Power of Meaning, January 2017 Release
Shannon Liao, The Met’s new art exhibit is told entirely through smartphone photos,
The Verge, June 26

2016
Darshan Feature and Interview, Issue 17, Smith Journal, Australia
Darshan, Monkey Issue, Artworld Magazine, China, January

2015
Darshan Feature, Issue 2, Steadfast Magazine

2014
Mary Hynes, Lights, Camera, Religion!, Tapestry, CBC Radio, December 28
Lavina Melwani, Mortals Made Immortal: Seeing God through Manjari Sharma’s creative lens, Hinduism Today, October/November/December
Making Gods, Turn Magazine, Columbus College of Art and Design, Issue 01
THE FENCE: Manjari Sharma, World Photo Organisation, December 2
Timeless Allure of Darshan, Huffington Post Arts & Culture, December 16
Lavina Melwani, Can you Photograph God? Ask Manjari Sharma, Lassi with Lavina Blog, October 15
Mumbaikar, New Yorker: How Migration inspired Manjari Shamra’s art, India in New York, Vol. XVIII No. 16,  October 10, cover and pp. 4-6
Field of Vision, India Abroad, September 19
Anisha Dhiman, In the kingdom of snapshots, Deccan Chronicle, August 3
Jenna Garrett, A Few of our Favorite Images from the Fence at Photoville 2014, Feature Shoot, June 30
Aline Smithson, The Center Awards: Curator’s Choice Award 1st Place Winner: Manjari Sharma, Lenscratch Fine Art Photography Daily, May 17
Incredible Painterly Diaromas of Hindu Dieties, Fotographia Magazine. May 7
Ute Noll, Showers, Du Magazine, Summer 2014
Molly Glentzer, Divine Inspiration: Exhibit explores evolution of the Hindu deities in art, Houston Chronicle, May 18
Vandana Kalra, Of Gods and Mortals: Manjari Sharma on creating a photo series featuring everyday people as deities, The Indian Express, May 12
Barbara Davidson, reFramed: In conversation with Manjari Sharma, Los Angeles Times Framework Photo Blog, March 27
Mike English, Manjari Sharma: Eastern Glimpse, Local IQ, March 5, (cover and feature)
Fayemi Shakur, Shared Cultures: The Power of Trancendence Through Photography, Nueva Luz Photographic Journal

2013
Darshan, Front and Back cover of RVM Magazine
Vision of the Gods, Yoke Magazine, Australia
Manjari Sharma, Blink Magazine, Issue 29
Shower Confessionals, CNN World Photos, September 25
Darshan by Manjari Sharma, Fraction Magazine, September
Nandita Ravi, The God of all things, The Sunday Age Newspaper, October 20
Darshan, Blink Magazine, Issue #29, November
Loring Knoblaugh, Manjari Sharma, Darsham and Shower Series @ClampArt, Collector Daily, September 25
Tyler Coates, Arresting Photos of Gods and Goddesses Bring Hindu Mythology to Life, Flavorwire, September 16
Niharika Mookerjee, A Grand Declaration of Faith Through Models of God, The American Bazaar, September 14
James Estrin, Connecting Hindu Gods and Humans, Lens Blog, The New York Times, September 14
Priscilla Frank, Photographer Manjari Sharma Transforms Hindu Dieties into Contemporary Photographs, The Huffington Post, September 12
Emily Esfahani Smith, Manjari Sharma: A Brooklyn-Based Artist on a Spiritual Quest, Acculturated.com, June 5
Bryan Formhals, The LPV Show Episode 4: A Conversation Manjari Sharma, LPV Magazine, March 19
Sara Bernard, For the Love of Gods: An Artist Brings Hindu Deities to Life,         Yoga Journal, March

2012
Maa Laxmi, Darshan, Forbes India: India’s Richlist (cover of flagship issue)
Darshan and its Journey, Event Space, B&H Photo, June 10
The Darshan Project, Resource Magazine Online, May 21
Holly Stuart Hughes, Crowd-Funding Success Story: Manjari Sharma, PDN, May 11
Darshan by Manjari Sharma at PULSE NYC 2012,  TheDowntown500.com, May
David Schonau er, Friday Spotlight: Manjari Sharma Photographs Gods, and Finds Fame, ProPhoto Daily, May 4
Aline, Manjari Sharma, Lenscratch Blog, January 19

2011
Niko Koppel, The Beauty and Chaos of the Gods, The New York Times, Lens Photo-blog, December 9
Darshan, Burn Magazine, August 25
All that Glitters, PDN Photo of the Day Blog, August 19
Gurbani, Ashish, Mehta, Dilnaaz, Q&A with Manjari Sharma, Photo Center NW Blog, August, 23
John Vettese, About Face at Gallery 339 and So This is Goodbye at Slingluff Gallery, Philadelphia City Paper, August 19
Kickstarter go to for the week, LIFE.com, June 29
Simon Robinson, Darshan: Photographic Series on Indian Deities, Gold Tinted
Claire O’Neill, How to Photograph Hindu Deities, The Picture Show, NPR PhotoBlog, June 28

2010
Nicole Pasulka, In the Flow, The Morning News, August
Deepanjana Pal, War of the Poses, The Times of India Crest, June
flakphoto.com, June 14
Manjari Sharma, Beautiful Decay online, May, 10
Manjari Sharma, Lensratch Blog, April 12
The Shower Series, Manjari Sharma, Burn Magazine,  April 9
Featured Photographer, PDN EDU, Spring Issue
Cretique, March, 18
Nina Buesing, A Conversation with Manjari Sharma,NymPhoto Blog, February 4
Elizabeth Fleming Blog, January 19
Exposure Compensation Blog, January 13, 2010
1000 Words Contemporary Photography Magazine Online, January 12
Fraction Magazine Blog, January, 10
David Alan Harvey, A blog by the Magnum photographer, Burn Magazine
Mull it Over, January 6

2009
Aperture, Exposures Blog, July 15
Picture Magazine, New York City, NY
PDN Photo of the Day Blog, November 19
Stone Thrower, GlassHouse Assignments, November 19

2008
Penguin Book Cover, New York City
American Baby Magazine, New York City
AOL Street Style, New York City
Mapping the African Past, Columbia University

2007
CNBC India, Mumbai, India
Fodors, Random House, New York City

2006
Columbus Monthly Magazine, Columbus, Ohio,

2005
The Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, Ohio

2001
Better Photography Magazine, Mumbai, India,

2000
The Bombay Times, Mumbai, India

1999
The Times of India, Mumbai, India

Press Release
2023
Surface Tension at Bishops Lodge
Surface Tension at Richard Levy Gallery

2020
2020 Vision at Richard Levy Gallery

2014
Darshan at Richard Levy Gallery

2010
Paani at Richard Levy Gallery