Indian art shines in France

In an interesting and insightful essay (The DNA India), columnist Madhu Jain writes about the growing buzz about the ‘quiet, fledgling, albeit sure’ emergence of contemporary Indian artists (not to mention those of Indian origin) on the European art scene.

Over the last couple of years, the art fair has emerged as a ‘wilting wallflower’ on the art scene, she states.In the backdrop of Foire Internationale d’art contemporain (FIAC) in Paris, she well underlines this phenomenon. The columnist notes:

“Several desi artists have been gliding into European blue chip galleries: At FIAC, there’s Atul Dodiya (Daniel Templon), Subodh Gupta (In Situ gallery/Fabienne Leclerc) and New-York-based Rina Banerjee (Nathalie Obadia). Collectors are beginning to zoom in on other Indian artists. Lately, Paris-and-Cholamandal-based painter Viswanadhan (his paintings were at the Art Elysees Art fair) has had several knocks on the door of his studio from a few collectors and dealers who see him as the next big thing.”

Incidentally, FIAC is a contemporary art fair, which has just concluded in the city. This time, it drew close to 125 galleries from abroad apart from many reputed international collectors. Larry Gagosian, among the world’s most powerful dealers, launched his gallery in the city during FIAC something that was not lost on buyers.

Underlining how the French are striving to fortify their status in the world of contemporary art, Madhu Jain gave example of quality exhibitions like and the magnificent Claude Monet show at the Grand Palais and the Takashi Murakami show in the vivacious Versailles Palace that are drawing hordes of visitors. Meanwhile, there were other contemporary art fairs as well alongside FIAC.

For instance, Art Elysees Art fair showcases modern & contemporary art. It features some of the most renowned galleries. Slick Art Fair focused on young and emerging artists this year with galleries from China, Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon, the Philippines, and of course, India taking part. New Delhi based Seven Art Limited, a young contemporary Indian art gallery, made its presence felt.There was one gallery from India at FIAC this year. It was Chemould Prescott Road from Mumbai-based, which showcased the works of artists like Mithu Sen, Jitesh Kallat, Hema Upadhyay, Desmond Lazaro and Aditi Singh.