The India Art Summit – New Delhi

Untitled 11, artwork by Princess Pea. Courtesy of Rob Dean Art Ltd.

In New Delhi, it’s easy to lose one’s head in the thick of it all, and India’s second annual art fair provided no relief. The India Art Summit (19-22 August) wasn’t just filled with hard-core art lovers and curious individuals, every stall was replete with gallerists and curators, a huge smile plastered on their faces and unblinking, weary eyes. If you looked closely, the squiggly red lines bordering their pupils spelled the same unanimous message: this is going to be a long four days.

In all honesty, I managed only one full day of schlepping around the stalls at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, trying to take everything in while avoiding tripping, again, on the guy with the huge white Nike’s and propeller hat who was filming the fair.

With 54 galleries from 11 different countries, the trade-show venue was bustling with people soaking up the contemporary and modern art. The sari-clad women, long-haired, bespectacled maestros, the many children and trendy 20-somethings came for the paintings, sculptures, photography, installations and the video art lounge, launched this year.

While international works were on display, including Picasso chalk sketches and works by Dali, the Indian art was the real fixture. The Indian art market is still coming of age, with curation and art criticism constantly evolving.

And what of the recession?

Untitled 3, artwork by Princess Pea. Courtesy of Rob Dean Art Ltd.

Local Indian media claim art sales from the fair have been high, with USD$5.3m being generated through the sale of 250 artworks. Over 40,000 people came to visit the fair compared with last year’s 10,000.

Some works, snapped up by collectors, may be lost to you forever but the galleries most certainly aren’t. If you missed the Summit you can still check out the galleries that stood out.

Nature Morte [New Delhi] Gallerist Peter Nagy has one of the best spaces, and eyes for art, in town. At the art fair, Balaji Ponna’s paintings, in particular the exquisite ‘Low voltage love…High voltage hopes’, depicting a map of India outlined by colorful light bulbs, is part of a sublimely beautiful series with a political message. The gallery itself currently features ‘The Action of Nowhere’, Jagannath Panda’s nature-inspired sculptures and paintings. Nature Morte has gallery branches in Berlin, New York and Kolkata.

Rob Dean Art Ltd [London] The booth focused on the works of artist Princess Pea, who explored a bubble-headed, green-haired, cartoon-like character as magazine cover girl, sculptural muse and photography subject all at once. The gallery is planning an extended exhibition of Princess Pea’s work in London. What we saw at the Summit was just a taste.

Devi Art Foundation [New Delhi] While the foundation may have undertaken a behind the scenes role at the art fair, this dynamic, not-for-profit, mother and son establishment has one of the best contemporary art collections (theirs) in India.

Lisson Gallery [London] The Lisson stall had a noteworthy collection including sculptures by Indian-born Anish Kapoor, a Turner prizewinner, who was exhibiting in India for the first time. His delightfully interactive stainless steel and lacquer shapes had audiences enthralled.

Gallery Threshold [New Delhi] Showcased by this gallery were the whimsical, rotund and slightly disturbing painted fiberglass figures by Ved Prakash Gupta. Gupta’s large Dalmatian in the sculpture park had a kitsch appeal, not unlike Jeff Koons’ ‘Puppy’ at Bilbao’s Guggenheim.

Arario Gallery [Beijing] Arario has spaces in Seoul, New York and Cheonan. This gallery featured some of the fair’s more cutting edge work by artists such as Indian sculptor L.N. Tallur and Chinese conceptual artist, Wang Jianwei.

Missing in Action: Maqbool Fida Husain

The 93-year-old painter went into a self-imposed exile after hard-line Hindu groups caused an uproar, protesting the sexual way in which Hindu deities were depicted in Husain’s work. M.F. Husain has been dubbed the ‘Picasso of India’ and the 2008 sale of one work, sold for USD$1.6m, a record for the South Asian category at Christie’s auction house. According to an article by AFP, the Art Summit’s organizers chose not to show work by the iconic artist, fearing a political backlash.