The sixth edition of the India Art Fair, the country’s largest contemporary art fair, was held in Delhi from January 30th to February 2nd.
More than 90 galleries came together to offer a view of art in India and Southeast Asia, and open the Indian market to European and American work.
Despite the economic downturn affecting the country, the Indian art market is healthy. The first auction organized by Christie’s in Mumbai last December did not disappoint. Several paintings by Indian artists sold for over 3 million dollars.
While the photo market is yet to reach those heights, several galleries were exhibiting a large selection of photographs alongside their paintings, installations and sculptures.
The Tasveer Gallery had work by Jyoti Bhatt (last seen at Paris Photo), a selection of Indian architecture photos by German photographer Andreas Volwahsen, fashion photos by Norman Parkinson shot in the 1950s for Vogue, and an installation of 30 photos by Vivek Vilasini, Housing Dreams, about the Indian middle class’s dreams of homeownership. It was a lovely overview of the richness of photography on the subcontinent.
The same variety was on display at Photoink in Delhi, with famous names like Madan Mahatta, Raghu Rai, Pablo Bartholomew and Ketaki Shekh.
The Sakshi Gallery from Mumbai focused on two artists: Vivek Vilasini and the American artist Waswo X Waswo, who revisits Indian color photography from the first half of the 20th century.
Other retouched photos were on display at the Parisian gallery Suzanne Tarasieve, featuring the work of Belgian photographer Jean-Luc Moerman, who transforms celebrities by covering them with painted tattoos.
One of the oldest galleries in Mumbai, Chemould Prescott Road, exhibited the series Aspect Ratio by the visual artist Jitish Kallat. The Nature Morte gallery from Delhi had a series by Pushpamala N., produced with Harcourt Studios for the 2011 exhibition Paris-Delhi-Bombay at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Finally, an installation by Dayanita Singh coincided with the release of her latest book, File Room (Steidl), which pays a nostalgic tribute to the culture of books and print in India. Having already appeared in different forms at the Venice Biennale and the Hayward Gallery in London, the presentation of File Room shows that photography has won a place on the Indian art market.
India Art Fair
January 30 — February 2, 2014
NSIVC Exhibition Grounds
Delhi, India
