Expressions galore

For some time now, museums and galleries and collectors abroad have been interested in exploring Indian art, particularly contemporary Indian art. In alignment with this narrative, the Art Institute of Chicago is showcasing the work of two Indian artists — Dayanita Singh and Nilima Sheikh. Though pursuing radically different projects — the life of eunuch Mona Ahmed in Delhi and the contested valley of Kashmir — these artists represent the vitality and diversity of contemporary art in India. While Dayanita Singh’s work will be on view in Gallery 292 through June, Nilima Sheikh’s “Each Night Put Kashmir in Your Dreams” will be presented till May 18, in Galleries 182–184.

The Art Institute’s exhibition presents one of Singh’s earliest series, “Myself Mona Ahmed” (1989-2001), newly acquired by the museum, paired with a recent related work, Museum of Chance (2013). Based on transgender Mona Ahmed’s life, the exhibition is rendered more relevance post Supreme Court ruling recognising them as third legal gender.

Vadodara-based Nilima Sheikh presents the rich history and contentious present of Kashmir woven into the intricate, complex scroll paintings. Eight paintings, created between 2003 and 2010 and previously dispersed among collections across India and Southeast Asia, are now reunited for the first time since their original presentation.

For the first time, the final nine paintings by M.F. Husain will go on public display (from May 28 to 27 July) at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, this summer. The Indian Civilization series comprises eight monumental triptych paintings which represent Husain’s vision of the richness of Indian culture and history. The Indian Civilization series, also known as Vision of India through Mohenjo-Daro to Mahatma Gandhi, was commissioned by the Mittal family in 2008. Usha Mittal has lent the paintings to the V&A, where the artist completed a residency in 1990.

While there aren’t too many options for mid-career artists when it comes to art prizes — in fact it is one less with the credible Skoda Prize for Contemporary Art out of scene — for upcoming artists, there are a few. Glenfiddich and Bestcollegeart.com (an online art gallery focusing on young artists) in its third outing announced Chetnaa Verma as the winner of the “Emerging Artist of the Year, 2014 Award” while Tauseef Khan of Delhi and Shrimanti Saha of Baroda were selected as the first and second runner-up at the event held at Gallery Nature Morte Gallery, The Oberoi, Gurgaon. Chetnaa received the prize for her works “Crossword of Diagonals” and “On Parallel Ground” in which the geometrical influences are amply evident. Chetnaa will represent India in 2014 at Glenfiddich Artists in Residence (AiR), collaborating with other celebrated international artists, and get an opportunity to live and work at The Glenfiddich Distillery in Scotland for three months.

United Art Fair, an ambitious project started by Anuraag Sharma of United Arts Logistics Private Ltd. has been acquired by Riya Diwakar Gandhi, a Delhi-based investment banker. While the curatorial team of Peter Nagy as the Artistic Director and Alka Pande, Ram Rahman and Meera Menezes remains the same, UAF’s format has been tweaked a bit. The fair distinguished itself from the rest on the basis of it doing away with galleries and putting artists directly in touch with the buyers. In its new version, the fair to be held at Pragati Maidan from October 16th to 19th is inviting domestic and international galleries to participate. Also new elements like solo projects, video programmes have been added to it. The fair will also have a Creative Art Director this time and artist Ravi Gossain has been selected for the role.