The 15th India Art Fair 2024, which takes place in New Delhi from February 1 to 4, will feature artwork from three galleries in Hyderabad — Kalakriti, Shrishti, and Dhi Contemporary.
The NSIC Exhibition Grounds, New Delhi, will host the event, which has over 100 exhibitors, including seven design studios, 71 galleries, and many regional art institutes.
‘Windows to the gods’
The exhibit at booth D08 is “Windows to the Gods,” presented by Kalakriti Art Gallery. The show, which includes works by Telugu artists Nagesh Goud, R Giridhar Gowd, Sachin Jaltare, and Priyanka Aelay, reinterprets legends through a combination of paintings, sculptures, poetry, and text.
While R Giridhar Gowd’s eighteen miniatures of Shiva and Shakti are influenced by the Vijayanagara painting style, Priyanka Aelay draws inspiration for her renderings of flora and wildlife from her Ramayana series and the folktale of Balanagamma. In order to convey a contemplative quality, Sachin Jaltare’s abstract figurative works use pen and ink in muted tones, watercolors, and acrylic on canvas.
Migration and urbanisation
At booth E11, Shrishti Art Gallery features a solo exhibition by artist Chippa Sudhakar. The series, “migration and urbanisation” explores the effects of increasing urbanisation.
In a disc-shaped piece of art, he portrays rural life in which humans and animals live in harmony, set alongside contemporary scenes of skyscrapers and automobiles, highlighting uneven progress. Woodcut printing is one of Sudhakar’s mixed-media pieces that poignantly depicts the effects of urbanization.
Visual Storytellers
With recent pieces by Arjun Das, Leena Raj, Poorvesh Patel, Sumana Som, Akhil Mohan, and Harun Al Rashid, Dhi Contemporary presents a series called “Visual Storytellers”.
Arjun Das explores the experiences of laborers in Bara Bazar, Kolkata, while Leena Raj plays with Malayalam proverbs in her paintings. Sumana Som interweaves historical events with personal narratives; Akhil Mohan considers the link between humans and the environment; and Harun Al Rashid’s artwork focuses on family history by pulling inspiration from his grandfather’s recollections.
In the meantime, Poorvesh Patel uses aged copper wires as a means of bringing back memories of his childhood spent in the rural areas of Navsari, Gujarat. The six artists’ varied points of view will be displayed at Dhi’s exhibition at booth A07, using a variety of mediums.
What is the India Art Fair 2024?
The art festival keeps supporting and recognising established and coming artists. It has teamed up with London-based talent and creative firm MTArt for the 15th edition, and together they are launching an inaugural award that will give one such Indian artist a worldwide canvas.
This time, interdisciplinary artist Sajid Wajid Shaikh will receive the MTArt Agency and India Art Fair Awards. He is a visual artist from Mumbai, India. His practice is a conjunction of the conscious and subconscious minds. While his conceptual practice is aided by the material world, his drawings transcend space, time, and memory to question nature.
Products of a meditative process, these artworks create a world of anomalies, seemingly fictive and surreal. Sajid is also the creative director of an independent design studio, 46&2 (Fortysix and Two), which has been creating bespoke illustrations and designs for over 8 years.
One of the highlights of the event each year is the fair facade, which displays the breadth and depth of a modern artist’s activity. The artist team Thukral & Tagra created it this year with the intention of it being colorful pixels. “The artists will work with Chamar Studio, which is run by Dalit community members, to ensure a life for the facade after the fair. They will repurpose it into an edition of collectible bags,” explains India Art Fair director Jaya Asokan.
The India Art Fair 2024 is said to maintain the features that have made it famous over the last few years, including a full schedule of discussions, outdoor projects, a “Platform” section honoring the country’s living customs, and the exploration of tech in art.
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