18 Nov Art Mumbai Adds 18 Galleries as Indian Market Gains Momentum

Source Credit:  Content and images from Ocula Magazine.  Read the original article - https://ocula.com/magazine/art-news/art-mumbai-adds-18-galleries-as-indian-market/

The fair returned for its second edition from 14 to 17 November with a refreshed layout at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse.

After a celebrated debut in 2023, Art Mumbai returned busier than ever, cementing their position before New Delhi‘s India Art Fair makes their own debut in the city in 2025.

Booths were packed with South Asia’s leading collectors and patrons. This instalment saw an overall increase in footfall and booths with 18 new galleries participating.

Remapped to create more space, the fair persisted with separate tents for Modern and Contemporary art. This time, the tent with works by South Asian masters welcomed viewers first, including works by M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza, and Amrita Sher-Gil.

Chennai-based art platform Ashvita’s stood out with its display of artists from South India for prices ranging from U.S. $10,700 to over $1 million. Nearby, Mumbai’s DAG had an expansive booth featuring a rare painting by Nasreen Mohamedi.

Nasreen Mohamedi, Untitled (1969). Oil on canvas. Courtesy: DAG Collection.

The long, narrow contemporary tent was divided at the entrance. One side saw India’s leading galleries alongside international players like global gallery Galleria Continua, and the other featured new and prominent galleries from across Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

The ramp dividing these two sections held Robert Indiana’s iconic ‘LOVE’ sculpture–a work shown by Ben Brown Fine Arts, which made its debut at Art Mumbai this year. They also showed works by Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, and Pablo Picasso, among others for prices ranging from $45,000–$600,000. The gallery reported steady interest, including sales of works by Cuban sculptor Yoan Capote on the first day.

The most uniquely designed booth belonged to Galerie Geek Art—a contemporary art gallery based in New Delhi and Tokyo that presented works by Takashi Murakami, Sajid Wajid Shaikh, Mari Ito, and more. With its curved entrance, the booth felt like a gallery in itself, offering an intimate, secluded space.

Robert Indiana, LOVE Gold Faces Blue Sides (1966–2000). Polychrome aluminium. Courtesy Ben Browns Fine Arts.

GALLERYSKE (Bangalore, New Delhi) and Photoink (New Delhi) shared a booth featuring a sculpture by Sudarshan Shetty and photos of Amrita Sher-Gil by her father, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil, as well as works from their individual programmes. GALLERYSKE presented strong works by Rajyashri Goody and Birender Yadav. They said they plan to open a new space in Delhi’s Defence Colony neighbourhood in early 2025.

This year, the contemporary tent focused on emerging and mid-career South Asian diaspora artists. Highlights included a presentation of Vikrant Bhise—an artist on the rise—at Anant Art Gallery (Uttar Pradesh), works by Raghav Babbar at Nature Morte (New Delhi, Mumbai), and a display of Parag Tandel at TARQ (Mumbai), who featured both in their booth and in the Sculpture Walk through the fair, which was curated by Veerangana Kumari Solanki.

Vadehra Art Gallery (New Delhi) presented fresh works by Shilpa Gupta, a large canvas by Zaam Arif, and a show-stopping shutter—reminiscent of the rolling shutters used to close local bodegas—by Atul Dodiya, which drew applause whenever raised or lowered. Experimenter‘s (Kolkata, Mumbai) presentation offered a compelling intersection of voices and practices with works by Pushpakanthan Pakkiyarajah, Bhasha Chakrabarti, and Sakshi Gupta.

Bhasha Chakrabarti, Ajaibghar (Malkauns), 2024. Found furniture, oil paint, single channel sound. Courtesy the Artist and Experimenter.

Vida Heydari Contemporary (Pune) presented works by Yashna Kaul, Samim Alam Beg, Monali Meher, and more for prices ranging from $415 to $19,000.

Rajiv Menon, the Los Angeles-based founder of Rajiv Menon Contemporary, emphasised the value of such fairs, explaining, ‘It gives collectors and art enthusiasts an opportunity to explore the breadth of the Indian art landscape. It demonstrates how the practices emerging in the region are extremely heterogeneous and diverse.’

‘Indian fairs are not simply a commercial endeavour, they’re a valuable educational platform for those unfamiliar with this region,’ Menon said.

Despite being only in its second edition, Art Mumbai already felt like a well-established tradition, with attendees embracing it as if it were a time-honoured event in the city.

Parag Tandel, Vitamin Sea, Coastal Road Project 3. Installation view, Art Mumbai’s Sculpture Walk. Courtesy of Art Mumbai.

Looking ahead to 2025 and the arrival of India Art Fair Contemporary in Mumbai, which will coincide with Art Mumbai’s dates, Art Mumbai co-founder Minal Vazirani remarked, ‘The announcement of overlapping dates for another fair in 2025 underscores Art Mumbai’s success and the significant impact it has made since our debut just a year ago.’

Experimenter’s Priyanka Raja said, ‘Globally, more than one art fair operating at the same time is common, and it’s encouraging to see this model emerging in Mumbai. These initiatives will greatly benefit artists, reflecting a shared mission and common core purpose among the organisations involved. The combined energy will undoubtedly elevate Mumbai’s visibility as a rising force in the contemporary art world and market.’ —[O]

Source Credit:  Content and images from Ocula Magazine.  Read the original article - https://ocula.com/magazine/art-news/art-mumbai-adds-18-galleries-as-indian-market/