Publication due end of September 2026
Lines of Flight is a fully illustrated monograph celebrating the first major survey exhibition of British-Indian artist Balraj Khanna (1939–2024), curated and organised by Ikon Gallery. Tracing Khanna’s distinctive vision of abstraction, the publication explores the influences of his youth in India, life in post-war Britain and fascination with the natural world. Rarely seen paintings from the 1960s and ’70s – including compositions inspired by the forests of Metz – are shown alongside large-scale works from the late 1960s to the 2000s that reflect childhood memories, diasporic identity, postcolonial politics and the lasting imprint of partition, with mixed-media works from the 1980s through to the 2010s highlighting Khanna’s innovative use of sand, spray, stencil and mark-making.
The first comprehensive reference on Khanna’s oeuvre, the publication features insightful contributions from art historians Dr Elena Crippa, Dr Alina Khakoo, Dr Aparna Kumar and Dr Cleo Roberts-Komireddi, along with a dedicated essay from Melanie Pocock, marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of Astral Dance (2001), Khanna’s monumental painting for the safety curtain of Birmingham Hippodrome. Sensitively designed by London-based studio Wolfe Hall, the publication is supported by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
Paperback, Full colour illustrations, 184 pages.
