P.Mansaram (b. 1934 Mt. Abu, Rajasthan, Western India, d. 2020 in Burlington, Ontario) studied at the Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, and later at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam. In 1966, he migrated to Canada with his wife, artist Tarunika, and three-month-old daughter, Mila. He formed a friendship with Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan that would last throughout their lives. Interested in media, daily life, and cultural signs, P.Mansaram experimented with various techniques, from printmaking and painting, to photography, textiles, xerox art, and video. The technique of collage pervades much of Mansaram’s work, serving as an artistic approach that mirrored his experience as a diaspora artist. He exhibited many of these works in India and southern Ontario throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hamilton, Oakville, and Toronto. The last exhibition before his death took place at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, which then traveled to the Art Gallery of Burlington and the Surrey Art Gallery. P.Mansaram’s work is held in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), Art Gallery of Hamilton, Art Gallery of Mississauga, and the estate of Marshall McLuhan, among other private collections.

For GTA24, MOCA will be featuring five mixed-media works by P.Mansaram made between 1965 and 1969, that reflect the late artist’s dedication to experimentation, and his deep interest in new media, cultural signs, and signifiers.