Architecture in India has long been intertwined with art and storytelling. From the soaring shikharas of ancient temples to modern architectural forms, each structure carries a narrative shaped by its maker. Bridging these temporal and spatial contexts, this exhibition offers a glimpse into Raj Rewal’s drawn worlds where layers of culture, politics, contemporary life, history, and the rhythms of the everyday come together in intricate and evocative compositions. But in Rewal’s drawings, it is the architectural grid that becomes a medium through which such narratives are visualised. 

Raj Rewal’s architectural practise is deeply rooted in symbolism and narration, and his drawings extend this approach. Brimming with imagery and colour, they tell stories of life underlined with irony and wit. Some of his early drawings date back to his return to India after studying overseas, where he engaged with master architects such as Michel Ecochard in Paris. In his recent works, featured here, characters from across the world—both popular and ordinary—appear in their most satirical form to provoke contemplation. They are dispersed within geometric grids that recall architectural blueprints in the making. These lines and underlying structures reflect the influence of Indian and Persian miniature traditions, reinterpreted through a distinctly modern visual language. At the same time, Western influences, particularly from Bauhaus artists such as Paul Klee and Piet Mondrian, are evident in the use of coloured grids and special articulation. 

Across these works, architectural frameworks remain constant, often serving as backdrops for the unfolding scenes. The compositions are imbued with vivid colours that help depict and distinguish the characters engaged in the narrative. Through this body of work, Rewal offers moments of reflection on contemporary life, narrating stories of human presence, within architecture, landscapes, cities, and politics; across urban and rural spaces; through history and mythology; and in moments of art, expression, and portraiture, whether of individuals or collectives. These compositions carry a subtle edge of satire, inviting viewers not just to see, but to read and revisit, as layers of meaning gradually emerge. 

Raj Rewal: Drawn Worlds invites viewers into a space for layered storytelling. These works are not merely drawings, but visual meditations where grids turn into stages, and figures into narrators of a shared, complex world. Rewal’s ability to weave together past and present, structure and spontaneity, invites a slower, more attentive engagement. In doing so, he reminds us that architecture is not only built in stone and concrete, but also present, imagined, remembered, and reinterpreted through lines, colours, and the enduring human impulse to tell stories.