He is particularly interested in the intersection between art, design and play. His distinctions include a Susan Coslett Cromwell Traveling Fellowship, and awards from the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. He founded Indy Type: The Indianapolis Typography Society. As an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, he is a member of the Illustrious Clients of Indianapolis.
Originally from Washington D.C., he’s also lived in Bangalore, India. He earned a BFA at Boston University in 1999 and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. Gautam is an Associate Professor of Art at Butler University.
Contact Gautam at: gautam@gautamrao.net
Press:
Sky Blue Window feature story (November 4, 2014) article | link
NUVO review of Color Coded (November 9, 2014) article | link
NUVO review of Unblocked (September 10, 2014) article | link
Solo exhibits:
Color Coded: paintings and design, Stutz Art Gallery | 2014
Gautam Rao: Unblocked, Gallery 924, Indianapolis, IN | 2013
Selected Group Exhibits:
2015
Finders Keepers, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, Indianapolis, IN
Biennial 28, South Bend Art Museum, South Bend, IN
juror: Staci Boris, Chief Curator at Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois
Ligature-licious: a type show, Primary Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
71st annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition, Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, IN.
heather ahtone, Curator of Native American and Non-Western Art for the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma.
Erasing Borders: Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora 2015
Hammond Museum, North Salem, NY Juried by Vijay Kumar
2014
70th annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition at the Swope Art Museum, Terre Haute, IN. Juror: Carter Foster, Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawing at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Art from the Heartland- Midwest Biennial, Indianapolis Art Center.
Juror: Sarah Urist Green, curator (formerly of the IMA) and host of PBS Digital Studios series- The Art Assignment
Typeforce 5: A showcase of Typographic All-stars. Location: Co-Prosperity Sphere in Chicago. February 28-March14th
High Art Indy 2014 Billboard project
2012
Insert Coin to Play, Raymond James Stutz Arts Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
2011
WinterTide, The Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs, Hot Springs, AK
2010
Plastic, Eyedrum, Atlanta, GA
curated by Jonathan Dye and Mandie Turner Mitchell
2009
Erasing Borders: Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora 2009
The Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY Juried by Vijay Kumar
Imperato Film Fest, Gallery Imperato, Baltimore, MD
Juried by Cherí Landry
2008
Monobandes, Les Territoires Gallery, Montreal, Canada
Curated by the team of Les Territoires
Calculating Art: Mathematics in the Visual Field, Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery
The College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, NJ, Curated by Dr. Virginia Butera
OverLoad, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, GA
Juried by Lizzie Zucker Saltz, Curator and Natalie Gazaway, Assistant Curator
Visiting Artist/Speaker:
Bowling Green State University MFA Program
Park Tudor School
The New York Academy of Art
