The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
DUBAI / GULF TIME
This April, experience Sujata’s long-awaited return to Dubai with SPACESCAPES, abstract solo exhibition since 2020. Opening with a preview on Thursday, 02 April 2026 at Alliance Française Dubai Gallery, the exhibition presents the artist’s most expansive and ambitious body of work to date – an immersion into the visual and emotional vastness of the cosmos.
SPACESCAPES is an immersive exhibition drawing inspiration from the breathtaking imagery of the James Webb Telescope. It offers a poetic interpretation of the cosmos in motion where fading stars, unfolding nebulae, and drifting comet clusters come alive on the canvas. Through a powerful visual language that navigates between scientific observation and boundless imagination, Sujata Bajaj explores the dialogue between reality and abstraction. Her work celebrates the meeting point of artistic expression and scientific exploration, reminding us that art—much like a telescope turned toward the heavens—has the power to unveil the unseen and awaken our enduring sense of wonder.
“In 2019 I happened to come across a NASA image taken from the Hubble telescope showing the Andromeda galaxy. I connected with the photograph without knowing what it actually was. The seed of Spacescapes was planted. I understood that this journey would require the use of new techniques as well as experimentation. The next five years were a period of great involvement in this new journey. These paintings are my discoveries during this time period inspired by deep space.” -Sujata Bajaj
Conceptualised and created by Sujata herself, SPACESCAPES deepens her lifelong dialogue between materiality, intuition, and universal rhythm. These works unfold as dramatic, uninhibited orchestrations of pigment, expansive compositions that open up new emotional and spatial possibilities. Rather than depicting the cosmos literally, Sujata evokes its resonance: its turbulence, stillness, and infinite potential. Her canvases reward viewers who linger, revealing shifting depths, bursts of energy, and a sense of vastness that mirrors the cosmic subject at their core.
Rather than depicting the cosmos literally, Sujata evokes its emotional and spiritual resonance – its turbulence, stillness, and infinite possibilities.
In the words of writer and critic Girish Shahane:
“Her canvases reward exploration from a series of vantages… They take on the most immense subject of them all, the cosmos itself.”
“Her canvases reward exploration from a series of vantages… They take on the most immense subject of them all, the cosmos itself.”
Published by Gallery Art & Soul (Mumbai), Namtech Fine Art (New Delhi), and Galerie Patrice Trigano (Paris), the SPACESCAPES monograph features over 100 full-colour plates and essays that expand the intellectual and cultural lens of the exhibition.
The publication includes contributions by eminent writers and contributors like David Elbaz, renowned French astrophysicist and Research Director at the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA); Manuel Rabaté, Director of the Louvre Abu Dhabi; Girish Shahane, art critic and curator; and Helena Bajaj Larsen, textile designer and writer and Francesco Buranelli, President, Permanent Commission for Monuments and Artists of the Holy See, Rome, reflecting on her passion, commitment, and evolution,
The book also features historical reflections and rare personal impressions from significant artistic voices, including a tribute by M.F. Husain:
“According to me, Sujata is the best colourist that India has.”
“According to me, Sujata is the best colourist that India has.”
Together, these writings situate Sujata’s practice at a unique intersection of art, science, mythology, and contemporary abstraction.