CANVAS CHRONICLES: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE NATIONAL GALLERIES AT INDIA ART FAIR, 2024

Canvas Chronicles: A Journey through the National Galleries at India Art Fair, 2024

The 15th edition of the India Art Fair opened from 1st to 4th February at the NSIC Exhibition, Okhla. The Fair was the talk of the town for not only being one of the renowned fairs of India but also due to its sheer vibrancy and grandeur. The Fair opened its doors to 108 exhibitors, platforming 72 galleries and art institutions. In this edition of the India Art Fair pushed the boundaries of understanding arts as it welcomed several renowned and budding Indian talents as well. Here are some of the top Indian exhibits presented at the India Art Fair, 2024.

DAG

DAG is one of the galleries famous for its spearheading and platforming of Modern Indian Art. This exhibition, titled ‘India Past and Present’, at the India Art Fair was no exception as it delved into the connected histories of pre-modern and modern art. The exhibition looks at the relevance of spices and textiles, apart from making India a leading economy in the medieval era and how it attracted several talents, especially artists to the subcontinent.

‘The Age of Discovery’ was a race undertaken by several colonialist empires in search of new lands, opportunities, and resources. This, at a time, when development on the scientific front was booming, was instrumental for sailors, soldiers, traders, merchants, settlers, writers, and artists. People undertook the journey in search of truth behind legends, gods and historical accounts, which made India a land of unlimited opportunities. The horde of artists, who came as representatives of colonial empires or sought employment at Indian rulers’ court, often painted landscapes and portraits for their beneficiaries and audiences at home. However, the indigenous artists painted larger narratives with popular mythologies as undertones.

It is due to these influences, a new synthetic art form emerged based on the amalgamation of several cultures which were interacting in the subcontinent. Unknown Masters with their diverse tapestry of Indian art along with Western artists paved the way for a new crop of Indian modernists. ‘India Past and Present’ celebrates pre-modern and modern Indian art which is deeply embedded in interaction, connectivity, and assimilation.

Akara Contemporary

Akara expanded its venture with Akara Contemporary, providing a platform to South Asian and international talents. The gallery enmeshes India and South Asia, making them central to global discourse, with regard to International Art History. In its inaugural exhibition, Akara Contemporary exhibited the works of Rebecca Sharp, a Brazilian artist, a sharp but intricate showcasing of multi-level planes of existence, infused with the allegory of macrocosm. Keita Miyazaki’s sculptures suggested acrimonious disharmony and obscure visual language. The work involves juxtaposing diametrically opposite elements like metal against light and paper to evoke a sense of aesthetic obscurity.

Bhagyashree Suthar, Utkarsh Makwana, and Anirban Mishra’s oeuvres were complemented by the works of artists such as Trishla Jain, whose work addressed mindfulness, art, and breath. Furthermore, Dhruva Mistry uses his stainless steel sculptures to project myth, literature, and religion. Along with Mistry’s work, Sathi Guin’s presentation of linear abstract forms, was complemented by Jordy Kerwick as well as by Jonathan Trayte’s work which featured inspirations from day-to-day objects. All of this formed a part of the microcosm that Akara wanted to portray.

Experimenter

In an attempt to provide an ode to India Art Fair’s 15th edition, the gallery presented 15 artists, with architecture, form, and landscape as the building blocks of the exhibition. The line-up included the works of Adip Dutta, Afrah Shafiq, Ayesha Sultana, Biraaj Dodiya, Julien Segard, Kallol Datta, Parul Thacker, Prabhakar Pachpute, Praneet Soi, Radhika Khimji, Rathin Barman, Sahil Naik, Sakshi Gupta, Sohrab Hura, and Soumya Sankar Bose.

Praneet Soi’s latest outing showcased works on handmade papier-mâché tiles embellished with acrylic paint and UV matt varnish. Praneet’s fascination with the Papier-mâché was piqued when he visited Kashmir. The unique craft was brought by Sufi saints to the region, traveling from Central Asia and Iran. The work titled ‘Landscape{s}’ depicted a floral pattern based on the relief of the Bharhut Stupa installed at the Indian Museum in Kolkata. While delving into the multifaceted history of Kashmir, Soi came across its Buddhist roots. This made him incorporate the floral depiction of the Stupa. Soi accentuates the work with the bark of a tree from Amsterdam and knits the entire work together with a moon embellished with several motifs. This oeuvre gives a peek to the viewers about migration, connectivity, and a sense of belonging that the artist witnessed.

Afrah Shafiq’s The Bride Who Could Not Stop Crying gives a unique perspective on women and their shared experiences. It is a video game involving a single-player role-playing video game. It revolves around the player enacting the role of a sobbing bride who goes on to interact with women in her family as well as interacting with the mythical characters that have been embroidered by the women of the family. The game has possible three endings and registers players’ reactions and choices with a “tear meter” of the bride. Red and White forms part of the visual as it is symbolic of Slavic embroidery. The work forms a part of a larger oeuvre titled ‘The Marriage Series’.

TARQ

Esteemed gallery TARQ also presented the works of ten artists, each exploring their interpretations of the space they occupy, deploying architecture as a form of expression. The exhibition investigates how material memory and spaces make an impression on humans as well as how human interventions have a deeply skewed impact on the ecosystem, historical narratives and identities.

‘Appropriation Disinformation: Nature and the Body Politic’ by Apnavi Makanji brings traction to concerns about how human manipulation impacts ecological integrity. The work paints a harrowing picture, using collages of archival maps, of violence perpetrated during the colonial projects. These collages form part of a larger series and look at brutalist modernity inflicted by humankind.

Areez Katki’s work speaks about migration, displacement, and belonging. The work poignantly reminds us of the human face of destruction. Katki’s works incorporate the Zoroastrian Toran beadwork technique, a technique that the artist was passed down by his maternal great-grandmother. Fragments and references are employed to retrieve the lost artefacts, which now lie behind glass ceilings in European museums.

Vadehra Art Gallery

The gallery participated in the India Art Fair with a wide array of artists. The line-up included A Ramachandran, Anita Dube, Anju Dodiya, Balkrishna Doshi, Biraaj Dodiya, Gauri Gill, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Praneet Soi, Rameshwar Broota, Shailesh B.R., Shilpa Gupta, Sudhir Patwardhan, Tyeb Mehta, Sachin George Sebastian and Zaam Arif.

The exhibition presented a rare painting of Tyeb Mehta, a renowned modernist and also displayed Atul Dodiya’s cabinet-of-curiosity-like installations, previously displayed at Bahu Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai. A series of photographs of rural India, curated by Gauri Gill, titled Acts of Appearance. Along with Sudhir Patwardhan’s works where he puts his visual vocabulary of geometric designs juxtaposed on obscure city infrastructure on canvas was a part of the display. Besides, there was Shilpa Gupta’s experimentation with temporal conditioning in her latest work involving a famed flapboard which incorporated her previous work titled WeAreCloserThanYouEverImagined. The exhibition also involved the work of Balkrishna Doshi which mulled over the notion of old age. These were some of the prominent artists who presented at the India Art Fair, 2024.