The 12th edition of the fair will showcase 75 exhibitors spanning 20 different global cities, 14 in India
Fair programme expanded to live performances and events, an extended bookshop, and diverse talks platform positioning the artists at its core
India Art Fair: NSIC Grounds, Delhi, India
Fair Dates: 31 January – 2 February 2020
Preview: Thursday 30 January 2020
India Art Fair, the leading platform to discover modern and contemporary art from South Asia, announces the full list of participating galleries and programme highlights for the 2020 edition. Taking place from 30 January – 2 February 2020 in partnership with BMW Group India, India Art Fair will present 75 exhibitors spanning 20 different global cities, 14 in India, with the tent façade designed by popular Indian artist Sameer Kulavoor.
Led by Fair Director Jagdip Jagpal, the 12th edition of the fair celebrates the thriving modern-day art scene across South Asia, positioning the artists at its core, combining cutting-edge contemporary visual art with modern masters, vernacular artistic traditions, and an expanded performance and talks programme. Committed to presenting an all-inclusive event from entry to exit, the fair will include tactile artworks, braille signages and fair guides, complimented by a programme featuring dedicated workshops and personalised accessibility tours for visitors.
GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS
The upcoming edition of India Art Fair will feature a diverse selection of contemporary art galleries from across the country including Chemould Prescott Road, Chatterjee & Lal, Jhaveri Contemporary, Galerie ISA, Project 88, and TARQ (all Mumbai) as well as Art Heritage, Blueprint 12, Exhibit 320, Gallery Espace, Nature Morte, PHOTOINK, Shrine Empire, and Vadehra Art Gallery (all Delhi). Strengthening its commitment to the development and growth of the art scene in India, the fair will welcome back Experimenter, Emami Art (all Kolkata); Art Houz, Gallery Veda (all Chennai); Kalakriti Art Gallery (Hyderabad); GALLERYSKE (Bengaluru, Delhi); The Guild (Alibaug); ZOCA (Ahmedabad, Mannheim), and new participant Gallery White (Vadodara).
The 2020 showcase will be shown in dialogue with exceptional historical pieces from the region’s leading modernists and India’s most established galleries: DAG, Dhoomimal Gallery, Crayon Art Gallery (all Delhi), alongside limited-edition modernist prints from Archer Art Gallery (Ahmedabad). A contemporary celebration of Pichvai paintings, a traditional art form with traces dating back to more than four hundred years ago in India, will be presented at Pichvai Tradition & Beyond (Delhi).
New international galleries participating in India Art Fair for the first time include: Marc Straus (New York, USA, PSM (Berlin, Germany), Gallery Tableau (Seoul, South Korea) and Saskia Fernando Gallery (Colombo, Sri Lanka). Returning international galleries include David Zwirner (London, UK/New York, USA/Hong Kong), neugerriemschneider (Berlin, Germany), Aicon Art (New York, USA), Aicon Contemporary (New York, USA), Grosvenor Gallery (London, UK), and 1X1 Art Gallery (Dubai, UAE).
Jagdip Jagpal, Fair Director of India Art Fair, commented: “We are grateful to the art community from India and around the world which comes together to celebrate the week of India Art Fair. Now in its twelfth year, the fair will return to New Delhi with a strong showcase of galleries from across India with a continual commitment to the fair providing a minimum of 70% floor space to leading cultural Page 2 of 5 spaces from the region, complimented by a selection of international galleries and extended programme of live performances and talks.
Each year, we provide a platform for activities taking place outside Delhi and Mumbai, from supporting Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Serendipity Arts Festival in the 2018 and 2019 editions to giving Chennai Photo Biennale a presence at the fair in 2020. We are also excited to welcome young galleries from India including Art Explore and Gallery White, alongside new participants from across the globe with Marc Straus from the United States and PSM from Germany as well as Saskia Fernando Gallery from Sri Lanka.”
OTHER FAIR SECTIONS
This year’s FOCUS section, which showcases pivotal solo presentations curated by participating galleries including: Ratheesh T. by Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke (Mumbai), Girjesh Kumar Singh by Rukshaan Art (Mumbai), Anjan Modhak by Emami Art (Kolkata), Avijit Dutta by Kalakriti Art Gallery (Hydrabad), D. Dhasan by Apparao Galleries (Chennai), K.S. Radhakrishnan by Galleri Nvya (New Delhi), , and Subodh Kerkar by Gallery Art Positive (Delhi).
PLATFORM, a popular sector of the fair that acts as a springboard for emerging artists, art practices and collectives from South Asia, with Britto Arts Trust (Dhaka), Delhi Crafts Council (Delhi) and Metta Contemporary (Navi Mumbai) returning following their 2019 participation, along with highlights from new participants Arts of the Earth and Gallery Ragini (all Delhi), specialists in vernacular art forms.
Leading cultural organisations and foundations from the region will exhibit under INSTITUTIONS, with presentations by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA), and Korean Cultural Centre India (all Delhi). Swaraj Art Archive (Noida) will shine a spotlight on early 20th century artworks from India, while the recently established Kolkata Centre for Creativity (Kolkata) and Chennai Photo Biennale (Chennai) will make their debut.
Extending across the fairgrounds, visitors will encounter a selection of OUTDOOR ART PROJECTS, ranging from large-scale interactive installations to sculptures, including giant wooden rain drops by Chennai based printmaker Vijay Pichumani with Art Houz Gallery touching on the ongoing conversation around water scarcity and excess, to acclaimed international Magnum photographer Martin Parr, who will present a live photography project from PHOTOINK, featuring a growing display of images that have been captured across the fair.
PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
Following the success of the PERFORMANCE ART PROGRAMME in bringing new audiences, the 2020 fair will present a strong line-up of leading artists including: Maya Krishna Rao, national-award winning theatre performer and social activist; Lagos based multimedia artist Jelili Atiku whose works address political concerns for human rights and justice; multi-disciplinary artist Piyali Ghosh following from her recent exhibition at the Venice Biennale; and Raisa Kabir, an interdisciplinary artist exploring the politics and cultural anxieties around globalised neo-colonial textile production and nationhood.
Offering a public platform for dialogues and discussions, AUDITORIUM TALKS, will feature artist presentations, memorial lectures and conversations across the artworld. Celebrating critical experimentation and the work of artists, curators, critics, collectors and institutions across the globe, highlights from the artist talks include female modernist Nilima Sheikh, Turner prize nominated filmmaker Naeem Mohaiemen and Magnum photographer Martin Parr. This year’s memorial lectures will be dedicated to the life and works of modernist Ram Kumar and artist Tushar Joag conducted by experts Kishore Singh and Shireen Gandhy respectively. Other topics will engage discussions on South Asian Textile Art with curators Shanay Jhaveri and Uthra Rajgopal from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitworth, Plans for Future Museums with Sophie Makariou and Kamani Sawhney from The Guimet and Museum of Art & Photography, amongst others.
The BOOKSHOP & CAFÉ will feature an extended range of publications including self-published art books, exhibition catalogues, graphic novels and zines, complimented by conversational sessions, workshops and masterclasses targeted at young students and collectors.
Beyond the fair venue, IAF PARALLEL will provide a platform to navigate the thriving cultural scene, with collateral events programmed by galleries, museums and arts spaces around the city. Highlights include the opening of the newly refurbished Jaipur House at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) which will showcase its rich permanent collection; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art which has a long-standing tradition of bringing together major public exhibitions; Bharti Kher’s retrospective at Bikaner House; solo exhibitions by Remen Chopra at the Gujral Foundation, Chto Delat at Khoj International Artists Association, Dhruvi Acharya at Nature Morte; Ravinder Reddy and Atul Dodiya at Vadehra Art Gallery, a shared exhibition of Shambavi’s works by Gallery Espace and Shrine Empire Gallery; and walkthroughs in Okhla, an emerging contemporary arts hub in South Delhi, including a group exhibition inspired by ancient Indian philosophy at Devi Art Foundation and a site-specific installation by Vishal Dhar at Black Box Okhla.
Marking their 5th year with India Art Fair, Presenting Partner BMW Group India will return to the fair and showcase the BMW Art Car by Andy Warhol – one of the nineteen prominent artists from across the world to have created Art Cars using contemporary BMW automobiles of their times, all offering a wide range of artistic interpretations. This will be complimented by The Warhol Talk, with Head of BMW Cultural Engagement, Thomas Girst, in conversation with Jose Carlos Diaz, Chief Curator at The Andy Warhol Museum. In addition, BMW Group India will continue to support India Art Fair satellite events throughout the country including Mumbai Art Weekend, further extending the fair’s reach.
A full list of participating galleries for the 2020 edition of India Art Fair can be found at www.indiaartfair.in/exhibitors
