THE INDIA ART FAIR MAKES ITS COMEBACK PART I
Emerging from the lockdowns of the Pandemic, the 13th edition marks the beginning of a new era for Indian and South Asian art.
In essence the 13th edition of India Art Fair (28 April-1 May 2022) had a little something for everyone, there were moderns and contemporaries, indigenous artworks and NFT art, performance-based work, talks, book launches and guided tours done in responsible small groups. Responding to the tremendous domestic demand and great potential for growth both regionally and upon the global stage, the India Art Fair made its comeback after two successive lockdowns.
Since the pandemic has caused a paradigm shift in the global art market, the purpose of art fairs has taken on a new relevance, which prompted us to reconsider our role within the art world,” says Jaya Asokan, the new Fair Director of India Art Fair. “In a bid to sustain this cultural dialogue throughout the last two years, we transitioned from a seasonal four-day event to a year-round presence through a refreshed website with newly commissioned artist films and stories, IAF Parallel exhibitions and events, new pop-ups and public art projects, workshops and walkthroughs to grow our footprint within the region,” she adds.
Of course, the block-buster galleries made their presence felt with a display of bright artworks carrying dark and hidden themes that undid the seemingly attractive bow on unpacking a variety of issues; Nature Morte’s Dhruvi Acharya spoke of eco-feminist concerns, Asim Waqif represented humankinds fractured existence through distorted metal. At Chemould Prescott, Atul and Anju Dodiya presented their contemplations during the pandemic in their artistic vocabulary, alongside Shilpa Gupta’s installation of medical bottles healing both physical and mental illness, while Jhaveri Contemporary had a colourful mix of tapestry, ceramic work and photomontage. Iftikhar Dadi & Elizabeth Dadi, presented a very colourful take on retro tapes. Chatterjee and Lal, Vadehra Art Gallery, Espace, and international galleries like Galeria Karla Osorio, Brazil, Aicon Art and Contemporary (both New York), Grosvenor Gallery (London) all reported a good footfall and a decent amount of sales.
The Fair launched The Studio, a section dedicated to experimenting with new ideas in art and technology. Within this section, the fair presented an interactive AR display by the techart platform BeFantastic supported by Tezos India, a visitor-centric installation by Khoj International Artists’ Association on urban pollution, and an installation of light and shadow play by artist Tapan Moharana presented by Space 118, among many others.
The Presenting Partner BMW Group India returned to the fair and showcased BMW’s all-connected and electric IX designed by Faiza Hasan, who was awarded ‘The Future is Born of Art’ commission. Hasan’s car wrap design reflects on the theme of sustainability and expands this into the community by including Urdu words like suno meaning ‘listen’.
“This year for the first time, we have a larger booth space to show off our expanded roster of artists, as well as a ‘focus’ booth to specially show works by the modernist Thota Vaikuntam who has produced a new body of work. We have focused on younger names in our main booth with works priced between INR 40,000 to INR 4,00,000, which have caught the eye of young and new collectors who have come in from all around the country,” says Richa Agarwal, CEO, Emami Art.
Emami Art brought together the recent artworks by twelve, both celebrated and young promising Indian artists: Anjan Modak, Arindam Chatterjee, Arpita Akhanda, Arunima Choudhury, Bholanath Rudra, Bose Krishnamachari, G Ravinder Reddy, Ghana Shyam Latua, Jogen Chowdhury, Prasanta Sahu, Soma Das and Vinod Daroz. The conceptual framework explores the connection between aesthetics, regions and contemporary global issues, ranging from the ongoing pandemic and new faces of neoliberalism to environmental crises.
Their selection highlighted the complex aesthetic strategies and elements of vernacular cosmopolitanism in the practices of the artists from the South. “Interestingly, despite being present at the physical fair, we have also had a lot of interest from audiences online, whether through social media or catalogues,” said Richa Agarwal, CEO, Emami Art.
Threshold Art Gallery presented a themed booth with gold as the underlying painterly symbolism. It showcased stunning work by Anindita Bhattacharya that spans her trademark concerns where she discusses a range of socio-political issues using humour and irony. Her painterly vocabulary is a contemporary approach to the Persian and Mughal miniatures. The seductive power of craftsmanship was in full display in the large overflowing paper cutting.
Achia Anzi’s installation I love you more than the riches of the East, was both moving and intellectually stimulating in its evocation of colonial view of the ‘east’ using tropes of sculptures and graphite drawings. The gallery also showcased abstract and minimal contemplative work by Pandit Khernar, Rahul Inamdar, Indrapramit Roy and Neha Lavingia while V Ramesh presented votive small format objects in oil on canvas with gilded wooden frames.
Jitish Kallat, Palindrome/Anagram Paintings, Mixed Media on Canvas, 2017-18, Chemould Prescott
The works by M Pravat showcased architecture and geological land masses collapsing one into one another. His art practice has always examined architectural forms and materials through a fractured lens. The Vida Heydari Contemporary (VHC) Gallery at which he was showing also had a very interesting tribute to Bollywood by Khosrow Hassanzadeh. It unfolded like a puzzle of faces that could be amusingly rearranged.
In the Modern section, Crayon Art Gallery housed a separate booth for M F Husain and a dedicated room featuring rare work by him in a triangular format. Madhavi Pareikh’s large format painting of the Last Supper also grabbed many eyeballs, while Dhoomimal Art Gallery displayed some fine work by F N Souza alongside sculpture by Shovin Bhattarjee, lightboxes by Satadru Sovan and paintings by Nupur Kundu.
Art Alive presented aesthetically captivating nude photography by Rohit Chawla and paintings by Paresh Maity, Sakti Burman and Maite Delteil alongside the launch of the art book 20th Century Indian Art Modern, Post-Independence, Contemporary Published by Thames & Hudson by authors Partha Mitter, Parul Dave Mukherji and Rakhee Balaram.
Ankon Mitra solo booth A Pilgrims Progress at gallery Art Positive showcased a series of works that were sensuous and contemplative. The works created for this solo exhibition delve into three themes: In the Margins and Edges, Within the Folds, The Inner Light, each exploring a distinct part of the artist’s practice.
Latitude 28 displayed a showstopper work by artist Sudipta Das. Titled Home, it is a catalyst to an important discussion towards the precarious condition of migrants especially the mass exodus during the pandemic. Also speaking of migrants was Khadim Ali from Quetta, Pakistan, whose works are born and bred in the conflict zones of south, southwest, and central Asia. Chandan Bez Baruah from Assam is known for creating digital photographs as references for the woodcut prints while Gopa Trivedi from Lucknow has sensibilities that are deeply rooted in the Indian Miniaturist traditions, where she attempts to re-infuse the new media in contemporary contexts. Waswo X Waswo presented his take on our times of turbulence and our cultural heritage. His self-portraits are usually tinted and painted by both of his Indian collaborators, Rajesh Soni and R. Vijay.
The Art Fair definitely held a good representation for the Indian galleries, which was a big sigh of relief for the Indian art market since most galleries reported an above average performance in sales.
Text by Georgina Maddox
Images Courtesy: IAF, Emami Art, Arts Ananda Trust, Latitude 28, Chemould Prescott, and Project88
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