I’m not sure one can pinpoint where Sangram Majumdar’s paintings live, but he isn’t asking us to. He once described his process as a room of chain-smokers creating an atmosphere from which the paintings emerge. This beautiful and mysterious visual stays with me as we discuss his first solo show in India, somewhere elsewhere, at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke in Mumbai. At every moment we’re compelled to engage with the work as if seeking a friendly visage through a haze. One might eke out a nose or an eye, only for it to disappear, leaving a haunting sensation of the familiar. In a previous review of Majumdar’s work, John Yau called it “necessary ambiguity.” I call it good painting.

—Melissa Joseph