Nayanaa Kanodia can be considered the pioneer of the genre of L’Art Naïf in India with strong individualism in her work. She is an economist turned painter and a brilliant colourist, who has worked tirelessly with dedication to art. Her paintings are in the collection of major art collectors and corporate houses all over the world. Musée International d’Art Naïf in Paris permanently displays her paintings. In 2016, she was honoured with a prestigious award by the Megh Mandal Sansthan in association with the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for her contributions to the Naïve art genre.

She has exhibited and demonstrated her painting techniques in Victoria and Albert Museum in London. She was also the first Indian whose paintings were selected for Paintings In Hospitals, UK. She has been featured in an international publication, Women in Art by Reinhard Fuchs, a rare honour for any Indian artist. She was chosen from all the artists of The Commonwealth countries to have a solo show in their newly renovated complex in London.

Impressed with the social messages being conveyed in her paintings, a consortium of schools in Los Altos, U.S.A. is using her work as a medium of instruction to their students.

She has recently been appointed as a juror for Prisma Art Prize for their Rome Dividere in Europe. She is the first Indian on their panel which is an honour not only for her but also for her country.

She is associated with many charitable societies, gives talks and conducts workshops and presentations on art in various organizations and universities. She also officiates as a judge in various art competitions. She has attended art camps in India, UK, Sweden, Italy, Russia, Greece, Thailand and Cambodia. Her work is characterised by the air of whimsy, flat bright polished surfaces and the extraordinary plethora of intricately worked details and patterns.

Born in 1950 in New Delhi in an Army officer’s family, Nayanaa graduated in Economics Honours from Lady Shri Ram College, where she won the Government of India’s national scholarship in economics. She shifted to Bombay in 1970 upon marriage and has lived there ever since. A self-taught artist, Nayanaa briefly honed her skills under renowned artist Anjolie Ela Menon. Between 1986 and 2025, Kanodia has presented six solo exhibitions abroad and participated in 50 international group shows. In India, she has held 40 solo exhibitions and taken part in an extraordinary 256 group exhibitions, a testament to her prolific career, sustained relevance, and pioneering contribution to Indian contemporary art.

Nayanaa says, “When the world which disturbs me and the world of which I have a deep understanding are amalgamated and absorbed, a new artistic dialect is created. My paintings intend to make you feel that you are watching a snapshot of life at maximum preposterousness, exuberant and bursting with energy. The conversation I hope to create in my work is a certain truth of life and on a deeper level, a well thought philosophy. Individuals may interpret my paintings in vastly disparate ways and each view will be equally logical and plausible, thought provoking and intriguing. My work delights the viewer with its whimsy yet contains the most important social messages of our lives.”