Balan Nambiar is a painter, sculptor, enamellist and a photographer. He is also a research scholar on ritual arts of Kerala and Tulunadu. He has held 36 solo exhibitions of his creative works in India and Europe since 1966 and published 23 research papers so far. He is a recipient of State and National Awards for his creative works “sculpture” of Lalit Kala Akademi, Senior Fellowship from the Ministry of Culture, and the Nehru Fellowship from the Jawaharlal Nehru Foundation for his academic research. He was a member of Central Advisory Board on Culture of the Ministry of Culture and Apex Committee of the NGMA, Acting Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi.
A retrospective exhibition comprising drawings, paintings, sculptures in different medium, jewellery enamel paintings and photographs of past 60 years was held at the NGMA, Bengaluru in 2018.