Born in Mumbai, Mamta Malhotra (née Chandra) grew up amidst the beautiful valleys, mountains and gardens in Kashmir, Poona, Gangtok and Bhutan. Her father, an engineer and a Brigadier in the Indian army, drew and painted beautifully, and was a strong influence on her. Family vacations were in mountain cottages where, stocked with oil paints, easels and canvases, the family would paint their versions of the apple orchards, the beautiful Dal Lake, Shankaracharya and the Hari Parwat beyond.
In the beautiful city of Chandigarh, replete with tree-lined avenues of flaming Gulmohur, Amaltas and Jacaranda trees, Mamta earned a degree in Architecture. She imbibed strong design influences from the Corbusier designed Chandigarh College of Architecture, graduating with a silver medal. Next, in Delhi, she painted and learnt sculpture with Rameshwar Broota, Shobha Broota and Pradip Saxena, at the Triveni Kala Sangam. Mamta also earned an honours certificate from the Royal Drawing Society in London and recently, she has done a residency at The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China.
Mamta lives and works in Varanasi and San Francisco. She has designed residences, art galleries, art residencies, and boutiques, and has undertaken numerous interior and landscape design projects. Dividing time between the oldest living city and some of the youngest modern cities has shaped her unique perception and sense of history and culture. Simplicity, harmony and integration with nature, and relevance to our cultural identity and heritage are the trademarks of her work. Her concern for protecting the environment and retaining our rich cultural identity finds expression in her artistic voice, communicating a compelling story effectively.
Mamta finds freedom by surrendering to the creative flow of art. She enjoys exploring the interplay of line, colour, form and texture through urban landscapes, figurative and abstract studies, and playing with oil paint, acrylic and mixed media. She has juxtaposed Sanskrit shlokas that are rooted in the city that she paints, with the architectural idiom to create a new visual vocabulary. Her true inspiration is drawn from Varanasi, a conglomeration of texture and colour. She masterfully intertwines colour and design to illuminate the spirit and culture of Benaras. The contrast of Varanasi’s urban fabric, rich culture, and timeless way of life rooted in nature, has inspired her to paint cityscapes highlighting the ephemeral beauty and fragility of Varanasi while evoking the intense vitality of an ancient and vibrant lifestyle.
Mamta has had three solo shows, two at the Open Palm Court Gallery at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi and one at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai. She has also had a joint show with a ceramic artist at the Visual Arts gallery, Habitat Centre. Her critically acclaimed work has been exhibited at many group shows at the Visual Arts Gallery, at the Triveni Kala Sangam annual exhibition, at the AIFACs gallery, Art Laureate Gallery at Lado Sarai, Gallery Espace Sorbonne 4 (Paris), Stainless Gallery, Delhi , and represented by curators and galleries at the India Art festivals at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and other prestigious venues. She recently successfully participated in ArtExpo New York 2025, where her work was appreciated by viewers and collectors.
Her art is featured in online collections such as Mojarto, Uchaan arts and Saatchi art. Mamta’s art has been featured in a New York Times bestseller coffee table book, the HarperCollins catalogue and Architecture Week magazine. In India, her work has been mentioned in Inside Outside, Design Today, Better Interiors, Femina, Spice Route, Navuthan magazine and a host of national magazines and newspapers. Connoisseurs and collectors of her art span India, Dubai, France, Canada and the United States .
She has recently won a gold medal and the Manikarnika Amrita Sher-Gill Kala Award 2024, The Bharat Art Society Merit award Bronze medal at Artist of India 2024 and Bharat Art Society Amrita Sher-Gill Award Gold Medal 2024.
Recent shows:
Art beyond the canvas: Joint show with ceramist Tanuja Jain at Visual Art gallery, India Habitat centre, New Delhi. 20th to 25th September 2014.
Art Laureate: Group show at Hilton garden Inn, Saket, New Delhi. 18th November to 18th December 2014.
Kashi ke Rang : Of faith and festivities. Solo show at Open Palm Court, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. 10th to 14th January 2018.
Kashi Yatra: Solo show at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai. 15th to 21st November 2022.
Amalgamation: Group show at Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai 16th to 19th Dec 2022.
Pura Vida: Group show at Gallery Espace Sorbonne, Paris. 6th to12th June 2023.
Ma: Solo show at Open Palm Court Gallery, Habitat Centre New Delhi, 19th to 22nd December 2023.
Manikarnika Art Gallery: online show winning Gold Amrita Shergill Kala Award , 30th May -10th June 2024.
Art Continuum: Group show at Visual Art Gallery, Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 25th- 31st July 2024.
Art Reflections: A Tribute to Traditions. Group show at Hotel Expo Inn, Noida , 6th September to 6 October 2024.
Hues: Group art show at All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, New Delhi. 8th to 12th Sep 2024.
Aura Planet: Group showing at India Art Festival , Constitution Club of India, New Delhi, 15th to 17th November 2024.
Aura Planet: Group showing at India Art Festival , Palace grounds, King’s Court , Bengaluru. 19th to 22nd December 2024.
Petal Pioneers: online group show by Aura planet. 9th to12th January 2025.
Uchaan Gallery: Group showing at India Art festival , Nehru Centre , Mumbai . 22nd to 26th Jan 2025.
Europe 22: Group showing by City Art Factory. Gallery M, Paris, France. 22nd to 24th February 2025.
Art Mudra: Group showing at Art Expo Fair, Pier 36 , New York, USA 3rd to 6th April 2025.
Amalgamation: A group show by Expopedia at Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. 24th to 30th June2025.
Art Spectra: group showing at Visual Art gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. 21st to 25th July 2025.
Asian Art Diversity: group showing at Indo-Asean Art Camp & Exhibition, Jakarta , Indonesia. 19th to 27th July 2025.
Soul Strokes: National group art exhibition at Lokyata Art Gallery, Hauz Khas, New Delhi. 25th to 27th July 2025.
Jagatguru Arts: Group showing at Hospitality Interior & Design Expo, Dr.S.P.M Indoor stadium, Panjim, Goa. 26th to 28th September 2025.
Intersection: Group showing at Palm Artspace , Hanoi, Vietnam. 4th to 9th October 2025.
Season 2 : Scarlet Dreams: Group show Khwab-e-Mussawiri at Picasso Gallery , Dubai UAE . 1st to 3rd November 2025.
Uchaan Gallery: Group show at India Art Festival, Bangalore. 12th to 14th Dec 2025.
Email contact: mamtamalhotra@gmail.com
Instagram: mamtamalhotrafineart
Facebook page
Mamta Malhotra 