Between Presence and Absence: Dhananjay Singh’s Bronze and Copper Wire Sculptures at Travancore Palace, New Delhi, India

Contemporary sculptor Dhananjay Singh will present Between Presence and Absence at the Travancore Palace Art Gallery in New Delhi from 12 to 15 October. The exhibition brings together works from different periods of Singh’s practice, offering a view of an approach to sculpture that has developed around intertwined bronze and copper wire.

Singh’s sculptures often sit between recognisable forms and abstraction. Human figures, faces and elements drawn from nature appear through networks of metal wire, allowing the structure of each work to remain visible. The material gives the sculptures a sense of lightness and transparency, even when the forms themselves suggest bodies, trees or other substantial objects.

Between Presence and Absence takes its title from one of the recurring concerns in Singh’s work. His sculptures examine relationships between human and natural forms, growth and decay, solidity and transparency, and life and death. Rather than treating these ideas as fixed opposites, the works bring them into proximity, allowing one condition to lead into another.

The exhibition spans different stages of Singh’s practice, from earlier experiments to more recent works. Seen together, the sculptures show the continuity of his interest in transformation and in the relationship between organic forms and an industrial material such as metal.

His treatment of bronze and copper wire is central to this process. The wires are intricately intertwined to construct figures and forms, creating surfaces that are detailed without becoming solid. The resulting sculptures retain gaps and spaces within their structures, making light and the surrounding environment part of how the works are experienced.

Singh’s practice developed further after a 2006 residency at the Faculty of Art and Design at Monash University in Melbourne, where his encounter with bronze influenced the direction of his sculptural work. He subsequently developed the use of intertwined bronze and copper wire that has become closely associated with his practice.

The same attention to line and intricacy extends into his drawings and watercolours. Across these different mediums, Singh works with an interest in form and structure, moving between figurative references and more open interpretations of the natural world.

The exhibition is presented by gallerist Sanya Malik, Raj Manohar Thota and Abhivardhan Berry of Sculpted India, in association with Sanya Malik’s Black Cube Gallery. Bringing works from different periods into a single exhibition allows the development of Singh’s practice to be considered across time, while also drawing attention to the ideas that have remained consistent within it.

Singh's work has received several recognitions, including the National Lalit Kala Akademi Award in New Delhi in 2002, the INLAKS Fine Art Award in New Delhi in 2005, the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Award in London in 2005, and a Gold Medal from Banaras Hindu University in 2000. His exhibition history includes presentations at the Gulf Art Fair in Dubai, Bronze at Gallery Espace in New Delhi, and the Harmony Show at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai. His work has also been shown in group exhibitions and art fairs in India and internationally.

At Travancore Palace, the works will be brought together across four days, allowing visitors to see the range of Singh’s sculptural language and the material processes that have shaped it. The exhibition's focus on presence and absence is reflected physically in the sculptures themselves, where the solidity of the metal is interrupted by the open spaces created by the wire.

Between Presence and Absence will be on view from 12 to 15 October, from 11 AM to 6 PM, at the Travancore Palace Art Gallery in New Delhi.

Exhibition: Between Presence and Absence

Artist: Dhananjay Singh

Dates: 12 to 15 October 2026

Timings: 11 AM to 6 PM

Venue: Travancore Palace Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

Presented by: Sanya Malik, Raj Manohar Thota and Abhivardhan Berry of Sculpted India, in association with Black Cube Gallery