For International Art
Given that works by international artists are rarely exhibited in India’s galleries and museums, the IAF provides an occasional opportunity. This year’s exhibition features the monumental 320 x 1320 cm woma block work Water Lilies by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei. It draws inspiration from French painter Edouard Manet’s meticulously crafted gardens at the neugerriemschneider booth, and this is the first time Ai Weiwei’s version has been seen in India, rendered in vibrant colours. The Berlin-based gallery has shown it alongside Israeli artist, dance composer, and notation specialist Noa Eshkol’s textile work Folk Dance, which features overlapping circular and semi-circular arcs, and Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s stainless steel work Unseeing the Blind Spot. Galleria Continua also has the Chinese artist’s works, but the central wall features a stainless steel Anish Kapoor Magenta Pink and Red Wine satin, which represents his work with color. Eva Jospin’s intricate forests embroidered with silk thread are also on display at the booth.
Galerie Geek Art from Japan is making its debut at IAF, with works by artist Kaneko Tomiyuki, including Great Tiger: Pacifier of Fire and Wind in mineral pigments, Japanese ink, and transparent watercolor. Meanwhile, as part of the launch of its Villa Swagatam residency programme, the French Institute in India is presenting Franco-Cameroonian artist Barthélémy Toguo’s installation Water Matters, created in collaboration with artisans from Chanakya School of Craft and its creative director Karishma Swali. Sarrita King, a contemporary Australian indigenous artist, has a solo exhibition at the fair, while the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is presenting Irish artist John Gerrard’s digital work Western Flag (NFT), which reflects on the history of oil consumption in the United States.
While Bruno Art Group returned to the IAF with American artist Andy Warhol’s silkprints of Chinese leader Mao Zedong and American actress Marilyn Monroe, Akara Contemporary made its debut at the fair with sculptures by Keita Miyazaki, who works between London and Tokyo and combines thought-provoking materials such as metal, fragile paper, and felt.
If looking for modernists
Modernist masters dominate the art fair, just as they do in India’s art market. The IAF has some of their most distinctive works. The 1999 Tyeb Mehta canvas Falling Bird at Vadehra Art Gallery recalls the associations the veteran artist’s falling figures and motifs had with his childhood memories of violence following the Indian subcontinent’s partition. If Grosvenor Gallery has, among other things, FN Souza’s Ask Me Why?, a striking portrait of a male subject, Art Heritage has works from Somnath Hore’s renowned Wounds series. Smaller pen and ink Jamini Roy works are displayed in Gallerie Nvya alongside a tempera painting by the Bengal artist depicting The Last Supper. Chawla Art Gallery’s booth features MV Dhurandhar’s paper works, KK Hebbar’s untitled portrait alongside Bhupen Khakar’s Kiss, as well as braille-readable works by Jamini Roy and Anjoli Ela Menon.
Ganesh Haloi and Ram Kumar share a booth, and Art Exposure features a collection of Jogen Chaudhury’s works, including small drawings and a series of portraits sketched by him, among others of fellow artist Nalini Malani.
The curated exhibition “India Past and Present” at DAG examines the evolution of Indian art from the 18th to 21st centuries, featuring works by modernists such as MF Husain, FN Souza, and Krishen Khanna, as well as Western artists who traveled to India, such as Thomas Daniell and Marius Bauer, and pre-modern artists. The highlights are Sewak Ram’s Muharram, R Regunatha Naidu’s Kaliya Daman, and an MF Husian self-portrait.
Talking Points
Jitish Kallat’s immersive installation Antumbra, with blurred letters on the fog-screen representing forgotten histories, is a reflection on time and confinement. The work, which premiered at IAF, provides a glimpse into the desk calendars of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela, during his prison years. From 1976 to 1989, several pages are blank, but others contain notations of his blood pressure, records of recent dreams, and prison visits. “There are some historical events that find mention, including Indian election results in 1980, but at the same time we find that some other historical events remain unmentioned, possibly because the news did not reach him or there could be deliberate omissions due to scrutiny,” Kallat said.
Baaraan Ijlal’s “I didn’t ask for fishbones: Notes on songs of abundance” series at Shrine Empire features fable-like portrayals and portraits on canvases that document testimonies of loss and suffering, building on her own role as a witness and memory archivist.
Sahil Naik’s ceramic tile works from the series “Migrant flowers for postcolonial desires” continue his interest “in extracting patterns between the histories of colonisation, non-alignment and structures of Modern nation-building” at Experimenter, which is presenting a group exhibition featuring 15 new commissions by 15 artists marking 15 years of the art fair and the gallery.” It delves into the history of flowering trees brought to India by colonizers, as well as the new architectural lexicon that emerged after independence.
If Gulammohammed Sheikh’s works at the Anant Art booth engage with the politics of language by creating complex three-dimensional forms out of Urdu and Persian letters carved out of books and pasted on wasli paper, Atul Dodiya cabinets at the Vadehra Art Gallery occupy various elements and objects to tell a story.
In the Studio section, interdisciplinary hearing-impaired artist Janhavi Khemka shares her experiences and observations through stop-motion animations created from woodcut prints titled “Waiting for Dawn”. If A Letter to My Mother features animated patterns of lips in woodcut, reminiscent of the mat on which her mother first taught her to lip read, Siri’s Here to Help exposes the absurdities of miscommunication. At the booth, she was talking to the audience about her life and art.
Woven narratives
Several textile works stand out at the fair, some for their handwork and others for the subjects they depict. At Shrine Empire, Bengaluru-based artist Renuka Rajiv’s Cushion Cover Myopia/ Armchair Inaction features interwoven squares of fabric and thread, with statements serving as lead-ins for viewers. Shivani Aggarwal’s series of ten works, Holding Nothingness, at Studio Art, examines what is known and what is unknown, while T Venkanna’s Strong Desire at Gallery Maskara depicts a man dying “while his living partner struggles on for connection.” Sarika Bajaj’s meticulously woven feathers and threads on jute works are on display at Anup Mehta Contemporary, while Akshata Mokashi’s tapestry is influenced by medieval tapestries in Europe and Indian rugs at Gallery Splash. Known to respond to his sociopolitical surroundings, Bangladeshi artist Mahbubur Rahman’s silk embroidery artwork from the series “The Heroes,” including a portrait of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, is on display at Blueprint 12.
Gallery Espace has a sizable collection of textile works, including one by Paula Sengupta and Puneet Kaushik’s From the Dohar Series in deep red. Manisha Gera Baswani collaborated with embroiderers in Lucknow to create her delicate and soothing chikankari on cloth, Basant Bahaar, which she displayed at the booth.
Mash is presenting embroidered renderings of some of the most acclaimed works by artists such as KK Hebbar, Nilima Sheikh, and SH Raza.
Also becoming stops
Visual artist Tito Stanley, dressed in gold, was the protagonist of his canvas, The Fire and the Death, on display at IAF, prompting several visitors to pose for photographs with him. Others were queuing at Bengaluru-based Shilo Shiv Suleman’s immersive space at the Art Musings booth, which showcased her body of work “God is a Woman in Love,” which depicts eight Ashtanayikas as archetypal romantic heroines.
Some people don’t mind being followed, as evidenced by those passing by Sajid Wajid Shaikh’s outdoor installation Deewaron Ke Bhi Kaan hote Hain, in which kinetic ears follow viewers in a work that examines surveillance. Also outside is Doyel Joshi and Neil Ghose Balser’s melting ice installation, and Shovin Bhattacharjee’s kinetic Cosmic Eye, which seems to be looking at the viewers. Clay in Common brings together a group of ceramic artists to celebrate their medium.
If LN Tallur’s bronze sculpture at Chemould Prescott Road features a Nataraja to comment on artificial intelligence, Sudipta Das’ Journey Uncontained at Latitude 28 represents the hardships of migrants. Also at Latitude 28, Yogesh Ramkrishna compares political yatras to the Pandharpur yatra in Maharashtra in Some Journeys are Beautiful, but Leaving is Difficult. “Everyday issues are temporarily forgotten,” Ramkrishna explains.
While some viewers travel through social stratas across India in Gigi Scaria’s Elevator to the Subcontinent, at Gallery Ske, artist Madhukar Mucharla displays miniature kolhapuri chappals on stone in a work that addresses caste discrimination. He hails from Nandi Wanaparthy, a village on the outskirts of Hyderabad, and belongs to the Madiga community, which is traditionally associated with leatherworking and tannery.
Pinaki Ranjan Mohanty’s Territorial Sublime at Art Centrix Space and Paresh Maity’s 116×180 inch Enlightened City at Art Alive draw inspiration from the waters of Chilika Lake in Odisha. The artist is also displaying his 16-foot-long Rhythmic Resonance: A Visual Raga in a painted enclosure, with the mridangam serving as a symbolic focal point for contemplating shared human experiences through music.
The CP Kukreja Foundation for Design Excellence is presenting an exhibition on the construction of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, which has been curated by Vishal Dar.
Photography as their medium
A solo exhibition of Dayanita Singh’s works is featured in “house museums” with prints on forte paper depicting various themes, ranging from chairs to Mumbai cinema halls. While Photoink pays tribute to the late modernist Vivan Sundaram by displaying his photographs alongside those of his grandfather, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil, the booth also features Madan Mahatta’s industrial photographs from the 1970s, as well as Madhuban Mitra and Manas Bhattacharya reflecting on the impact of AI on portraiture. Gauri Gill is exhibiting works from various series at Vadehra Gallery, including the ongoing series Acts of Appearance, which stems from her encounters with a village of Adivasi paper mache artists in Maharashtra, and Mark on the Wall, which documents drawings created as part of the now-defunct Leher Kaksha scheme. Wonderwall, meanwhile, includes one photograph each by S Paul and Prabuddha Dasgupta, among others.
At Art Heritage, German cinematographer Joseph Wirsching’s photographs of the film studio Bombay Talkies from the 1930s provide insight into Indian cinema at the time.
Design Launch
This year, the IAF has launched a limited edition and collectible design section with seven design studios participating: Vikram Goyal, Atelier Ashiesh Shah, Gunjan Gupta, Rooshad Shroff, Studio Renn, de Gournay, Karishma Swali, and Chanakya School of Craft. The segment has also included design galleries ÆQUŌ and Carpenters Workshop Gallery. The latter is a well-known design firm that has produced works by Wendell Castle, Nacho Carbonell, Ingrid Donat, and Karl Lagerfeld.
Rooted in Tradition
Serenity Arts’ “The Wheel of Life” features Bhutanese thangka paintings by artist Zeikor and his team. The deities represented include the Dhakinis, Goddesses of Offerings; Zambala, God of Wealth; and Dem Kurukulle, Goddess of Wealth and Protection. The Inherited Arts Forum will present a curated presentation of paintings and sculptures based on the artistic trope of ‘Devi and her vahana,’ while Shrujan – Living and Learning Design Centre will showcase contemporary Kutch crafts. The Delhi Crafts Council is displaying traditional woodworking techniques such as marquetry in a variety of themes, while Ojas is displaying works by a group of ten artists working in various genres, including Gond artist Bhajju Shyam and Bhil artist Lado Bai. Gallery Ragini features Jatin Singh’s monochrome works, S Srinivas Rao’s floral depictions, and pichvais by
KM Singh, as well as Riaan and Najish Khan, depict scenes from the Mahabharata on wall carpets.
Be part of the gameplay
Some artworks encourage viewers to be creators and decision-makers. This year’s IAF tent facade designers, artists Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, are also inviting audiences to create their own digital stories by selecting from a list of over 70,000 words related to ‘Forces of Nature’. The algorithm then creates a custom digital artwork using the artist duo’s motifs, transforming the words into a digital tapestry in a variety of colors and patterns; the final creations are digitally shared with the creators. Portraits drawn by participants in a 60-minute session using the Procreate app on iPad are also on display at another booth.
At the Experimenter booth, Afrah Shafiq invites audiences to play a game in The Bride Who Could Not Stop Crying, warning them early on that their choices will determine how much she cries. Dhruv Jain, on the other hand, challenges them to navigate narrow paths in a game where they must confront buried histories and lost landscapes. If Sadhna Prasad’s digital work allows viewers to explore nature’s hierarchies on an iPad, Method offers an immersive installation that uses color psychology and emotional mapping principles to respond to participants’ heart and breath rhythms and reflect the colors around them.
Myles and Ameya, digital artists in residence, present an immersive audiovisual piece called “Orinthoscope” that maps two decades of birdsong across the Indian subcontinent — choose your state and year. However, the learnings may disappoint because both perching sounds and bird sightings have decreased over time.
Being led at the fair
Navigating so much art can be overwhelming. For those who prefer to be escorted around the fair and assisted in reading art, there are several curated tours available throughout the day. While Shaleen Wadhwana, an independent researcher, educator, and curator, guides visitors through selected highlights at IAF, the “Green Conscious” tour focuses on key works that address our ecological and climate crisis.
“Art History 101” discusses the living artistic traditions of South Asia, while “Art of the Possible” engages “with artworks that showcase the everyday reality of social difference through lenses ranging from queerness to caste”.
For the first time, the fair offers art tours tailored to children, such as one that teaches them empathy through an art walk and another that teaches them to be aware of environmental concerns.