Sunday, October 14, 2012

Contemporary artists from India draw critical acclaim

Driven by a belief that globalization is a complex challenge and not merely a convenient tag to substitute the typical ‘internationality’ of the modern age, several prestigious art institutions world over are keen to investigate art trends in emerging social and economic superpowers like India.

This line of thinking in spheres of contemporary art is well reflected in a series of recent curatorial ventures as well as the choice of names, who are known to respond to deeper criteria than just belonging to a particular state or nation (though that too is significant!).

Over the last few years, renowned galleries across the world are hosting acclaimed artists from India in a series of group and solo shows in order to deepen the audience interest in contemporary Indian art. Many of the now regularly feature at the prestigious shows and art events that question today’s consumerist culture, pointedly questioning the relationship between use and value, as well as highlighting contradictions inherent in everyday life with a touch of irony and crude aesthetic, at times.

Studio la Città in Verona, Italy (Riyas Komu, Jagannath Panda, and Hema Upadhyay); Berlin based Arndt & Partner (ARNDT) hosting a Jitish Kallat solo, entitled ‘Likewise’; his ‘Public Notice 3’ at The Art Institute of Chicago; Indian Highway’ at the Reykjavík Art Museum, Iceland; Hauser & Wirth presenting paintings by Subodh Gupta in its new Zurich space, an installation by Raqs Media Collective at York based e-flux; and Nalini Malani’s retrospective at Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne are some prominent examples of this trend.

'In Transition: New Art from India’ (TV Santhosh, Sudarshan Shetty, Shilpa Gupta, Reena Kallat etc) at Richmond Art Gallery in Canada are some of the prominent examples. ‘India Awakes: Under the Banyan Tree’ at the Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg in Austria, ‘Chalo India’ at Victoria Miro, Thomas Gibson in London, Gallery Krinzinger in Vienna and Berlin based Gallerie Christian Hosp are other major instances.

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