Education

2016-2018 MFA Art, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2012-2013 MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London, London
2011 Summer Study Abroad-Contemporary Fine Art Practice, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, London
2011 Summer Program-100 Design Projects, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, London
2010-2011 Art Appreciation, National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology, Delhi
1995-1998 BA (Honours) Economics, Hindu College, University of Delhi, Delhi

Awards/Grants

2024 Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant

2023 Finalist, The Hopper Prize

2018 Student Project Grant, Student Affairs, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

2018 Student Travel Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

2018 Diversity Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

2017 Dean’s Project Award, School of Art, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2017 Student Union Grant, Student Union, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2017 Workshop with Hochschule Fur Bildende Kunste students as part of their 250th year anniversary celebrations, Hochschule Fur Bildende Kunste, Hamburg

​2017 Student Travel Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2017 Provost's Merit Scholarship 2017/18, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2017 Hybrid Incubator for Visionary Entrepreneurs (HIVE), California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2017 Student Project Grant, Student Affairs, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2016 Dean's Grant, School of Art, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2016 Provost's Merit Scholarship 2016/17, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2014 Shortlisted for New Contemporaries, London 

Residencies

2022 Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Bethany, CT 

2018 Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE

Fellowships

2019-2020 Artist in Residence, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Qatar, Doha

2017 Research and Practice Fellowship, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

Solo Exhibitions

2024 Stitches of Care, Emma Gray HQ, Santa Monica, CA 

2022 Time Travel, Emma Gray HQ, Santa Monica, CA 

2020 At Home, Five Car Garage, Santa Monica, CA 

2019 6 PM, Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles, CA

2018 Slowing Down, Mint Gallery, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2017 Space for Mistakes, L Shape Gallery, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2015 Fragments, Galerie Romain Rolland, Delhi 

Group Exhibitions

2024 Contemporary Asian American Abstraction, Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2024 With the Mystery, curated by Carey Coleman, Known Studio, Los Angeles, CA

2023 The Feminist Art Program (1970-1975): Cycles of Collectivity, REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA

2023 Open Show, Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles, CA 

2022 Garden, Ladies' Room, Los Angeles, CA (online)

2022 Flat File 2022, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY 

2021 Garden, Ladies' Room, Los Angeles, CA (online)

2020 Translating the patterned light, Maiden LA, Los Angeles, CA (online)

2018 Through-Line: Drawing & Weaving by 19 Artists, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2018 Exit 57 B, The Bel Air Restaurant, Los Angeles, CA​

2018 Rattlesnake Bells in the Desert, The Box Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2018 Unstretched/Unframed, Semperdepot, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Vienna
2017 MFA Group Show, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2017 President’s Inaugural Exhibition, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2017 Chiquita Canyon Landfill Found Art Scholarship, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2016 Need a Show for this Title, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2013 Process in Exile, Made in Arts London, London
2013 MA Final Show, Chelsea College of Arts, London
2013 Chelsea Cafe Project, Chelsea Space, Chelsea College of Arts, London
2013 In Two Parts, MA Interim Show, Chelsea College of Arts, London
2013 Chelsea Salon Series, South London Gallery, London
2005 5th Northern Region Art Competition, Camlin Art Foundation, Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi
2004 Delhi State Art Exhibition, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, Delhi
2003 3rd Northern Region Art Competition, Camlin Art Foundation, Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi 

Art Fairs

2018 Code Art Fair, Steve Turner Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark 

2014 Concrete Island, Made in Arts London, Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead 

Curatorial Projects

2023 The Feminist Art Program (1970-1975): Cycles of Collectivity, Artist/Curator, Curatorial Team, REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA

2018 Feminist Conversations: Reaching Back, Looking Forward, co-curated with Kathy Carbone, Curating the Institute Archives Project, Special Collections and Institute Archives Reading Room, California Institute of the Arts Library, Valencia, CA ​

Collaboration

2015 Collaborated with artist Shweta Bhattad for her performance Faith, “Sharing Our Stories”: Global South Social Movements , COP21, Paris

Artist Talks

2023 Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles, CA

2022 Flat File Friday, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY (online)

2018 Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE

​
Teaching Experience

2024 Instructor, Winter Session, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

​2023 Part Time Faculty, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA

​2023 Instructor, Winter Session, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

2019-2020 Adjunct Faculty, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Qatar, Doha

2018 Lead Instructor, Together Workshop: Experimental Painting, The Union for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
2018 Teaching Assistant, Painting+Drawing, California State Summer School for the Arts, Valencia, CA ​

2018 Teaching Assistant to Tom Lawson, Lost River/Missing Lake, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

2018 Teaching Assistant to Tom Lawson, Dust and Water Workshop in collaboration with SOMA, Mexico City

2017 Teaching Assistant to Jeannene Przyblyski and Tom Lawson, What Makes it Art, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2016 Student Tutor, Student Affairs, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

Bibliography

2024 Pasadena Artists Among Recipients of Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grants, Pasadena Now

2024 Notes on West Meeting East, Greg Flood, Contemporary Asian American Abstraction Online Catalog

2024 Contemporary Asian-American Abstraction @ Paul Thiebaud, Mark Van Proyen, SquareCylinder.com

2024 Meet Ekta Aggarwal - Artist, Shoutout LA

2024 CalArts and the Rediscovery of the Feminist Art Program, Catherine Wagley, CARLA

2024 The Joys of Feminist Archiving: Two Southern California Shows, Janet Sarbanes, East of Borneo

2024 When Feminism Ruled CalArts, Renée Reizman, Hyperallergic

2023 Ekta Aggarwal on pushing boundaries, the meditative aspect of embroidering and creating patterns, and working in a wide range of materials and mediums, Hopper Prize

2022 Ekta Aggarwal: Time Travel by Shana Nys Dambrot, Art and Cake

2022 Artforum Must See: Ekta Aggarwal: Time Travel, Artforum​

2022 Time Machines–On the work of Ekta Aggarwal by Scott Benzel

2020 "Curated Selections" by Elizabeth Denny, Dovetail Magazine, Issue 02​

2020 Dear Sister Artist: Activating Feminist Art Letters and Ephemera in the Archive by Kathy Carbone

2019 Feminist Conversations: Reaching Back, Looking Forward, interview between Ekta Aggarwal and Kathy Carbone, Network Library Project, viralnet-v4.net

2015 Zigzag by Sonal Kohli