A Look At The Most Visited Stalls At India Art Fair 2023
The fair presented a unique line-up of contemporary, modern and digital artists from India and South Asia
The 14th edition of the India Art Fair recently concluded in the capital city brought some of the most iconic artworks not only from India but also from across the world. A most loved place for artists and art lovers exhibited almost all types of art with a remarkable presentation. If you are an art lover and missed the visit to the fair don’t worry. Here are the top art galleries from India Art Fair 2023.
- The Crooked Bodies of Apple Trees Art Gallery
The gallery featured striking artworks by leading artists, including a neon sculpture by Shilpa Gupta, which reads “Still they know not what I dream” and offers a perspectival challenge to viewers who assume subjective constructions to be representative of objective knowledge bodies.
An impressive five-panel painting by Rameshwar Broota is rendered in his iconic visual technique of playing with self-generated illumination on otherwise flat surfaces by scraping through layers of paint with a blade.
A weathervane cast and painted on by Gulam Mohammed Sheikh as an arbitrary, uncontrollable marker of how progressive the future of a country might be.
Balkrishna Doshi’s surrealistic mixed media on canvas works represent the preoccupations of old age, when reclaiming personal memories to establish one’s life purpose is the predominant endeavor.
A large canvas by Atul Dodiya re- invoking his cardinal protagonist Mahatma Gandhi in emblematic historic imagery then layered with a play of materials that act as agents of re-writing and also healing.
The metal sculpture is shaped like a torn carton by N.S. Harsha, comments on the capitalistic urges of society through which a future may still yet be promised – among other noteworthy artworks.
- 'Pipio: A Bird Flies, A Stone Is Thrown'
- Aditi Kulkarni explores the concepts of time, momentum, and alienation, using laws of physics and politics of the everyday. Her work investigates the history of daily occurrences. Through her spatial and kinetic installations, she is interested in breaking the perception and collective memories to reconstruct the way we see reality.
Payal Arora creates site-specific and immersive installations that people inhabit blurring the parameters of the room. She explores the concept of nonlinear time and notions of distance, position, and bodily tolerance, to rethink what it means to have agency. Her exhibitions include ‘When No one is Looking’, Kala Ghoda festival, Bombay, 2013, and her master’s degree show ‘At dusk the sky had turned Violet’, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi, 2016.
- Art Alive Gallery
The Art Alive Gallery presented a holistic showcase of contemporary, modern, and emerging arts from the country keeping in mind the spirit of the India Art Fair that celebrates the art of South Asia by combining cutting-edge contemporary visual art with modern masters and vernacular artistic traditions.
Art Alive Gallery's exhibit at India Art Fair 2023 will showcase a curated selection of art by masters and contemporaries defined by their distinctive art practices that have shaped the ethos of Indian contemporary art today.
They exhibited ten artists and a special focus section on Amarnath Sehgal, whose artworks and verses are an account of the politics of power, and stand as strong testimonies of resistance, hope, connection, kindness, vitality, and humanity.
- Art by Vikram Goyal
Recognised for his approach to materiality, craftsmanship, and culture, designer Vikram Goyal’s newest series of contemporary statement pieces were unveiled at the India Art Fair in New Delhi. Goyal’s multi-dimensional practice draws from early exposure to the visual arts and is shaped by his inclination to explore abstract, metaphysical ideas through form, utility, and interaction.
Goyal’s key immersive piece is “The Tree of Good Fortune”, a set of fluid, dynamic sculptures whose tree-like forms draw from the Brutalist style. Each limb is made with multiple, unpolished parts in brass, the studio’s signature material, welded together with exposed edges and a patinated gold surface. The sculpture hung with amulets, invites viewers to take one as a keepsake for good luck and prosperity.
- Ineffable
Challenging all traditional and observable processes, Bijay Khanna pushes boundaries with his latest works. The textile medium, a legacy for him, is embraced but also entirely converted into a different kind of ‘art’. Ancient techniques of Zardosi and Aari go beyond their usual floral decorative motifs and instead create complex abstract contemporary figures.
These indescribable figures are created by Viraj in the form of collages or acrylic paintings as the base starting point. This pattern is then outlined onto cloth with a distinct vision of techniques and materials to be used to bring it to fruition. The methodology is the same but the intent is completely renewed. He hopes to give hand embroidery the global position it truly deserves - of being acknowledged and appreciated as an artwork in and of itself.
This break from tradition in fact helps the craft to sustain and further evolves the perspective of the karigars too. Working together, the final piece is novel and mind-expanding.
- Emami Art
At India Art Fair 2023, Emami Art presented a group exhibition featuring new works by ten contemporary artists. The show revolved around artistic practices based on a broad, open framework grounded in vernacular cosmopolitanism. It proposes a wide arc of explorations and connections of radical local relevance such as agrarian politics to the dynamics of global issues like sustainability.
The presentation at the IAF 2023 includes the powerful work of mid-career artists like Arindam Chatterjee, Prasanta Sahu and Soma Das, while showcasing a group of young emerging talents like Arpita Akhanda, Ali Akbar PN, Debashish Paul, Ghana Shyam Latua, Janhavi Khemka, Shilpi Sharma and Ujjal Dey, offering new perspectives and discovery.
- Bruno Art
The gallery exhibited the paintings of one of the most prominent hyperrealist artists of our century, Yigal Ozeri. Ozeri has elevated the hyperreal genre to astounding new heights. Following his widely successful exhibitions and art fairs in neighboring Asian countries.
The distinctive presentation of his latest series is an unprecedented art installation that will mark the inauguration of Yigal Ozeri in India’s expanding art scene.
Ozeri presented his latest series Americana. He has chosen to focus on ‘the diner’ as an American icon; an institution that has its image engraved into the fabric of American life. Ozeri aesthetically captures the most appealing retro- elements from the furniture to the lighting. The chrome accessories reflect pops of neon and bold lines of vibrant colors. Vintage antique memorabilia make their way into the compositions adding a charming nostalgia of yesteryear.
- Nature Morte
Born in Poland in 1979 and now based in Berlin, Alicja Kwade is well-known for her sculptures and installations that explore concepts of space, time, science and philosophy, requiring the viewer to interrogate the very nature of perception itself. On view will be one hanging work, one framed work on paper, and two sculptures from different series, demonstrating both the breadth and the specificity of Kwade’s practice.
Alicja Kwade studied at the Berlin University of Art and the Chelsea College of Arts in London. She has held more than 24 solo exhibitions of her work since 2013 in Berlin, Dallas, Helsinki, Zurich, Rome, Shanghai, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Mexico City, New York, and other locations.
Her most recent project was a multi-part sculptural installation that occupied the prestigious Place Vendome in the center of Paris (October/November 2022), and she received the Roof Garden Commission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 2019.