Based in
Nagpur, India
Mediums
Themes
Education
Selected Exhibitions
Oil on canvas
Perception, consciousness, abstraction, and the undefined and infinite nature of meaning
1984: BFA in Painting, Nagpur University
1994: MFA in Painting, Nagpur University
Collections/ Recognition
2022: Tilting Art Gallery, Pune
2022: Udayan Art, Mumbai; 2021: Kala Chhavi, International Solo
2019: Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2014: Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur
J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, Centre for Creative Arts, Jammu
Vision Nashik
Rhizoscape: The Living Network exhibition in London will be showcasing some of this artist’s work from 19th February to 4th March 2027
Raghu Neware
Indian painter exploring perception, consciousness and the space between form and the undefined.
Raghu Neware approaches abstraction as a continually unfolding field of perception. His practice, gathered under the ongoing Search of Eternity series, resists closure. Layered, repeated and partially obscured gestures allow forms to emerge, recede and reappear across the painted surface, so that no single reading of the work is complete.
Rather than prescribing meaning, Neware treats abstraction as a means of keeping meaning open. Each viewer enters the painting through their own perception and experience. Within The Living Network, Rhizoscape, this approach extends the idea of a network inward, towards consciousness, memory and perception. The network is understood not as something simply inhabited, but as something formed through the act of looking at itself.
His work asks to be experienced rather than explained. It situates abstraction as a living, unresolved field rather than a fixed statement.
Raghu Neware (b. 1962, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India) is an Indian painter whose abstract practice explores perception, consciousness and the elusive space between form and the undefined. He received his BFA in Painting from Nagpur University in 1984, followed by an MFA in Painting in 1994. In his ongoing Search of Eternity series, Neware builds expansive fields of colour through layered, repeated and partially obscured gestures. Forms emerge, recede and reappear across the painted surface, resisting a singular reading
Practice Themes
Perception as Process
Meaning is not fixed within the painting but formed each time a viewer looks, so every encounter with the work is its own act of making.
Abstraction as Openness
Abstraction is not the absence of form but the liberation of it, keeping a work open to many readings without prescribing one.
The Undefined as Boundless
To define is to limit, so the undefined is treated as boundless rather than incomplete, preserving an infinite range of possible experience.
For Neware, abstraction is not an absence of meaning but a means of keeping meaning open, allowing each viewer to enter the work through their own perception and experience
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2025: Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2024: Tilting Art Gallery, Pune ; Collective Canvas, Ahmedabad
2023: Reachout Gallery, Nashik, and Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
2022: Tilting Art Gallery, Pune ; Udayan Art, Mumbai ; The Art Fair, Ahmedabad
2021: Kala Chhavi, International Solo ; Meraki Artz Gallery; Fuzion, online show; Atelier of Art
2019: Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai ; AnYahh! Art Gallery, New Delhi ; Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, 150 Years of Gandhi Jayanti
2017: Laurent Gallery, South Melbourne ; Taj Hotel, New Delhi; India Art Festival, New Delhi
2014: Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi ; Mirror Art Gallery, Aurangabad ; Pioneer Art Gallery, New Delhi
2013: Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2011: Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi ; Choolamandal, Chennai ; RED ROOM Ragini Art Gallery, New Delhi
2008: CISFA Art Gallery, Nagpur; Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, charity exhibitions
2007: ARTEXPO, New York, USA; Kala Ghoda Association, Mumbai
2006: Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi
2004: Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; SANVAD, Pune
2002: South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur
2001: Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
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2019: Eminent Artist Award, International Art Festival, Ujjain; Senior Fellowship, Ministry of Culture, New Delhi
2006: Award in Painting, South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur
1989: Award in Sculpture, South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur
1988: Special Award, Mahakoshal Kala Parishad, Raipur; Second Prize, Lalit Kala Academy Nutan Kala Sangam, Raipur; South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur
1983: Chitrakala Mahavidyalaya Annual Art Award, Nagpur
1982: Second Prize, Maharashtra State Art Exhibition, Mumbai
Permanent Collections (undated): National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur; J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, Centre for Creative Arts, Jammu; Vision Nashik; private collections in India and abroad
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2017: Jury, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai
2015: Fundraising exhibition for Nepal earthquake victims, Jawaharlal Darda Art Gallery, Nagpur
2009: National Jury, Lalit Kala Academy, Lucknow
2008: Curated two charity exhibitions at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, following the Mumbai terror attacks (November and December)
2001: Painting series on the Bhuj earthquake, Gujarat
1994: Govari Stampede wall painting, Nagpur (300 x 8)
1993: Killari earthquake documentary; street wall painting exhibition on national integration and communal harmony, Nagpur; communal harmony work at Kabit Samaroh, Hinganghat, Maharashtra
1992: National integration and communal harmony canvas, Nagpur; painting series and documentary on the Mowad floods, Vidarbha, Maharashtra
The Works
Raghu Neware
Oil on Canvas
2022
152 x 91 cm; 59.8 x 36.6 in
Price: POA
Deep blue creates an immersive field in which geometric fragments and layered marks appear almost submerged within the surface. Subtle variations connect one passage to another, while a strong red gesture cuts horizontally across the lower middle, creating a moment of tension within the otherwise unified field. Forms remain suggestive rather than conclusive. The painting draws the viewer into a network of relationships that becomes perceptible gradually, through sustained looking.
Raghu Neware
Oil on Canvas
2020
91 x 152 cm; 36.6 x 59.8 in
Price: POA
An expansive field of ochre and gold gathers layers of translucent colour, fragments and deliberate gestures into a quietly shifting surface. Forms seem to emerge from within the accumulated layers, only to recede into them again. Fleeting passages of white, red, green and darker tones create subtle connections across the field. The painting invites a slow encounter, where the eye moves between what appears, what remains partially obscured, and what gradually reveals itself.
Raghu Neware
Oil on Canvas
2023
144 x 99 cm; 56.7 x 39 in
Price: POA
A cool blue-grey field stretches across the canvas through horizontal passages, faded marks and restrained gestures. Layers seem to have been built and partially erased, leaving a surface in which traces connect without forming a fixed structure. The strong ochre passage near the lower edge introduces warmth and interruption. The painting unfolds through the movement of the eye across its breadth, allowing perception itself to become part of the work.
Raghu Neware
Oil on Canvas
2023
152 x 93 cm; 59.8 x 36.6 in
Price: POA
A rich ochre field carries an intricate convergence of yellow, coral, red, white and muted blue passages. Layers of marks intersect and overlap through the centre, creating a sense of movement and interconnectedness without settling into a defined structure. The surrounding field remains quieter, allowing the central activity to unfold gradually. The work is experienced through these shifting relationships—between colour, gesture, surface and space—rather than through any single identifiable form.