‘In India’ by William Gedney at Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

Source Blouin Art Info
William Gedney is the pioneer of documentary photography in America who failed to get the recognition that he deserved during his lifetime, yet was celebrated only postheumously. “How do Indian streets differ from American streets?” photographer William Gedney questioned to himself during his stay in India from 1969 to 1971 in Varanasi, where he stayed with a local family. He photographed life in the ghats and sometimes in narrow, winding lanes of the city. Ten years later he travelled to Kolkata and shot the city life. He reflected his experiences and memories of travelling to India in his journal notes, “Your eye is led from one thing to another. Before it can rest your sight must move on. The movement pulls you. The crowds on all sides, wagons, bicycles, vendors, cars, cattle, a thousand shops, the curbs lined with goods, lumber carried across the street, horns blowing, color dashes in front of you, each street a tunnel of movement, of frenzy,” he wrote in his journal in 1969, when he took the first of his several trips to India on a Fulbright fellowship which had greatly affected him.
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The word for world is forest: Vibrant art stories of Gond folklore

Source The Indian Express by Vandana Kalra
A new publication of over 100 works dives deep into the vibrant art of the late Jangarh Singh Shyam, the artist who put Gond folklore on the global map. Art collector Mitchell S Crites distinctly remembers the first time he met Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam. It was in the winter of 1987 and the world was yet to discover Shyam’s art rooted in the Pradhan Gond folklore and tradition of Madhya Pradesh. After hearing of his talent and purchasing a couple of his works through dealers in Delhi, Crites paid him a visit at the Surajkund Mela in the capital. There, he found Shyam sitting on a bamboo mat under a large tree, dressed in faded jeans and a checked flannel shirt. The unassuming artist and Crites were to develop an association that lasted more than 15 years. Whenever Shyam travelled to Delhi from Bhopal, he would first visit Crites before any other collector in Delhi.
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‘India’s Rockefeller Artists’ at DAG Modern, New York

Source Blouin Art Info
The exhibition brings together important works by a number of Indian painters and sculptors, who has been invited in the American soil on grants sponsored by John D. Rockefeller III’s philanthropic vision. Through the JDR 3 rd Fund in the 1960s and 70s, and then through the Asian Cultural Council’s assistance, artists like V.S. Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee, Ram Kumar, Bal Chhabda, Krishen Khanna, Natvar Bhavsar, Jyoti Bhatt, K.G. Subramanyan, A.M. Davierwala, Avinash Chandra, Arun Bose, Paritosh Sen, K.S. Kulkarni, Vinod Dave, Bhupen Khakhar,and Rekha Rodwittiya have been brought to the USA to experience the world of American art from a closer geographical proximity and share their learning and experiences to augment the artistic communities of both backgrounds.
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Dealers & the 'art' of faking it: Akbar Padamsee on how to avoid buying a counterfeit

The Economic Times by Rashmi Menon
Coming across fake paintings is one thing, says Padamsee. What’s worse are the attempts to influence him so that he can verify the paintings as genuine. “I met an art dealer recently, who put up a fake painting of mine. She took me there and photographed me. I was furious because it was not my painting. If she respects herself as a dealer, she need not have resorted to such tactics,” he recalls. Padamsee, though, looks at it pragmatically. “I haven’t lost anything. She loses her money. I told her clearly it wasn’t my painting. Despite that, if she wants to throw her money away, then do it. It’s your money. How difficult is it to check with me? I stay around the corner from her. She could have come by and asked. She didn’t want to. She said she bought it, but I don’t think she did,” he says.
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‘The Tagore Triad’ at Akar Prakar, Kolkata

Source Blouin Art Info
Akar Prakar, Kolkata is exhibiting Tagore family’s contributions to the world of arts. The exhibition features Rabindranath, Abanindranath, and Gaganendranath Tagore. Belonging to the same family yet their approach to painting was individualistic which redefined the history of Indian art. For them, art was not a mere form of visual expression, but a tool for protest against the regressive forces (social and political). These 3 artists created their own art form instead of following the Western art. The exhibition witnesses the rich heritage and legacy of our country in comparison with western modern art. Even today the creations of the 3 maestros are revered by the world despite the fact that modern art form has invaded the traditional techniques of art.
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Nalini Malani, une artiste pionnière indienne au Centre Pompidou

Source Le Quotidien de l'Art par Magali Lesauvage
Le Centre Pompidou consacre une rétrospective à l’artiste de 71 ans, pionnière en Inde de la performance et de la vidéo, dont l’œuvre mouvante mêle récit intime et drames de l’Histoire. Née en 1946 à Karachi (au futur Pakistan), un an avant la partition des Indes Britanniques en deux États (Inde et Pakistan), Nalini Malani a connu dès l’enfance l’exil à Calcutta, puis à Bombay. De ce lien intime avec les tourments de l’Histoire, l’artiste indienne a fait le fil conducteur de son œuvre, depuis la fin des années 1960 jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Parmi les premières œuvres de l’artiste, la vidéo Onanism (1969) montre sans fards l’orgasme d’une jeune femme et par là même l’audace de Nalini Malani à aborder le thème de la sexualité féminine, sujet encore tabou en Inde aujourd’hui.
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Given Power- From Tradition to Contemporary Folk and Tribal Art Exhibition

Source Global Fashion Street
Two contemporary galleries, – Exhibit320 and Blueprint12 – have come together to create a platform for Folk and Tribal Art.​ Given power – From tradition to contemporary’, a show that is an endeavor to showcase a selection of works collected from the interiors of Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Maharashtra. The exhibition will inaugurate with a private preview on ​Thurs​day 23rd November 2017. The preview will be followed by a month long public viewing from ​Friday 2​4​th November – 24th December 2017.
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Jaipur’s new sculpture park welcomes contemporary Indian art with traditional architecture

Source Architectural Digest by Peter Nagy
High above the city of Jaipur, perched like an eagle looking for prey, stands the Madhavendra Bhawan palace. Built by Sawai Madho Singh at the cusp of the 19th and 20th centuries, it is the most finely preserved element of the rambling Nahargarh Fort, which occupies the opposite end of the ridge from its more famous cousin, Amer Fort. Nahargarh, which dates back to the first half of the 18th century, is today little more than an impressive entry gate, an undulating wall following the geography of the hilltops, and an overgrown amphitheatre. This only creates a more incongruous setting for the stoicism of Madhavendra Bhawan, rigid in its geometric symmetries and heavyset countenance.
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You Can Help Rehabilitate Thousands Of Indians, With Just Art

Source Youth Ki Awa Az
Imagine a world without art: it would be drab, grey and probably unhappy. Thankfully, we live in a world where art is around every corner, be it in the form of graffiti, a painting in a fancy gallery or just a simple scribble made by a child. Art has been an essential form of expression right from the days of the early man painting in caves. This is exactly what the people at ArtReach think too. This unique not-for-profit aims to reach children and young people living in marginalised communities across India and transform their lives. They strive to bring contemporary and traditional Indian and international artists into care homes, homeless shelters, Dalit communities, remote tribal villages and municipal schools to teach and create art, shaping new opportunities.
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5 art industry insiders answer the biggest FAQs about buying art

Source Vogue India by Arundhati Thomas
Hire an art consultant if you wish to consider collecting art seriously and on a broader scale, and if you don’t have the desired knowledge or don’t know where to begin. Look for a person whom you can trust completely, someone who understands your taste, aspirations and concerns to help you collect as you would like to collect, and not merely to tick off names from a list. If you are, or wish to be, a serious collector, please remember you have a disease, and just like any other disease you need to get the right doctor to help cure it. But with art, you don’t need to cure it completely; you just need to control your levels in certain ways so you may collect meaningfully over the long term and with focus. A good consultant will understand your mind and heart in how you respond to artworks, and help you walk on that path over time to get things that will resonate with you.
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Inside the palatial New Delhi home of artist and collector Shalini Passi

Source Architectural Digest by Nikhil Khanna
Shalini Passi, her husband Sanjay, and son Robin, live in a sweeping curve of a home in New Delhi’s posh Golf Links neighbourhood. The house, shaped like a gentle boomerang, overlooks the 220 rolling, bucolic acres of the Delhi Golf Club; on some days you can even hear the whack of a Callaway on the 8th tee. Shalini’s house, however, is anything but bucolic—instead it is astonishing, filled, as it is, with art from floor to ceiling.
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In Pictures: Take a tour of the art-filled offices of the Jindals

Source Architectural Digest
(Right) This spiral staircase connects the executive floors of the JSW Centre in the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The installation is Jagannath Panda’s Wizard of the Wasteland; Photographer: Neville Sukhia; (Left) The Jindal Mansion located on Mumbai’s Pedder Road. Art sometimes spills out of this iconic building on Mumbai’s Pedder Road. Refurbished by Mumbai-based architecture firm Edifice, the clean-lined interiors house the Jindal family offices.
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Art and jewellery meet at Nirav Modi’s Mumbai office

Source Architectural Digest by Tora Agarwala
Years passed by, and the lilies resurfaced—this time though, as jewels in the necklaces and earrings that made up his eponymous brand NIRAV MODI’s Lotus collection. “Art has impacted my work directly and indirectly, and often provides a thought or a mood, which leads to a piece or a collection,” he says. But even in art, Modi’s inspirations are diverse—a Gond painting by the late Jangarh Singh Shyam that hangs in the diamond merchant’s Mumbai office (a museum in its own right) is the story behind his Mermaid Cuff collection. His daughters’ plastic bangles inspired the Embrace collection. And FN Souza’s 1974 work Metropolis inspired his Spring necklaces and earrings. “Art has to be something that mesmerizes me; the beauty of which, I cannot help but admire.”
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Riyas Komu on the need of the hour at the new Bihar Museum

Source Architectural Digest
“We owe it to Bihar and to ourselves; we owe it to Bihar’s rich heritage and long history,” said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the inauguration of the main galleries of the Bihar Museum on October 2, this year. He also defended the public expenditure for it as a long-term cultural investment. The state was once at the centre of India’s political, spiritual and cultural development; so any apprehensions about the museum’s location are misplaced. The city already houses the third-oldest museum in the country, the illustrious Patna Museum, established in 1917, and which has a large collection of archaeological materials and artefacts. Now, the two museums will function complementarily in terms of the historical periods they cover.
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L'art contemporain indien a la cote

Source Le Revenu par Tim Witcher et Agnès Bun
Enrichis par la croissance économique du géant démographique d'Asie du Sud, les nouveaux magnats indiens permettent à des oeuvres d'artistes comme Vasudeo Gaitonde (1924-2001) d'atteindre des prix records. Mais cet engouement ne se cantonne pas aux salles d'enchères. Deux célèbres établissements parisiens, le musée Guimet et le centre Pompidou, exposent actuellement chacun une artiste indienne, jusqu'à janvier. Quant à l'Asia Society de New York, elle prépare une grande exposition d'artistes contemporains indiens pour l'année prochaine.
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Bharti Kher on how women artists are going to change the art world

Source Vogue India by Shahnaz Siganporia
Suddenly my success or how good I am will always be pegged to the fact that a single piece of my work sold for that much money. But is that the sum of my achievements? Although I honour and respect it, I resent it too. Is my career going to be based on the result of those two auctions, those two or three hours, a decade ago? Is this the lesson I want to teach my kids? That you are only worth how much money you bring in? But if we’re going to obsess over money, then let’s talk about money. The international art world in 2015 was worth US$ 63.8 billion (TEFAF art market report). China holds a 19 per cent share and the US accounts for 43 per cent, while the art world in Europe generates more money than agriculture.
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Madhvi Parekh

Madhvi Parekh 1972 oil pastel on paper 49x34 cm

Source DAG Modern Rétrospective Madhvi Parekh
Madhvi Parekh est pour moi l’une des plus grandes artistes indiennes. Pourquoi ? Elle me semble être la seule a réussir une synthèse parfaite entre l’art contemporain moderne et le folk art encore si vivace en Inde. Son art célèbre la contemporanéité intemporelle des arts premiers. Son art peut évoquer Klee que lui a fait découvrir son mari dès ses quinze ans. Mais bien plus encore son art évoque, laisse apparaître, transpire, des racines bien plus anciennes. Celles de son village natal du Gujarat. De Klee, elle retient la part la plus enfantine, la force primale tant recherchée également par Picasso. Avec ravissement aussi, certaines de ces oeuvres sont un écho profondément indien à certaines oeuvres de Gaston Chaissac et d’A. R. Penck. Les formes et les couleurs de Madhvi Parekh ont cette liberté pulsionnelle que l’on retrouve dans une seule autre forme d’art la danse. La danse qui était pour Elie Faure la première des manifestations artistiques. Hervé Perdriolle

"La danse, qui inaugurera les langages affectifs des sociétés primitives et qui est d’ailleurs le premier que l’on rencontre chez l’enfant n’est qu’une stylisation de ce besoin d’une forme liturgique élémentaire de "communion organisée", qui élève l’instinct individuel à la conscience la plus fervente, sinon la plus lucide, des intérêts supérieurs de la collectivité. Dans les tribus, elle rappelle sans cesse à cette collectivité, par ses rythmes puissants, par ses répétions rituelles, par ses retours périodiques qui célèbrent les événements les plus solennels de la vie sociale, qu’il convient de sauvegarder dans les moeurs l’ordre qu’enseigne aux hommes les manifestations constantes de l’univers astronomique et biologique : la succession régulières des saisons, les phases de la lune, le lever et le coucher du soleil et des étoiles, la migration des oiseaux, la périodicité du sommeil, de la faim, le battement de nos propres artères, le bruit cadencé de nos pas et jusqu’à la symétrie sensible des deux moitiés du corps de tous les êtres vivants - mystérieux ensemble mécanique qui donne à nos assises subconscientes la sensation d’un balancier régulateur dont chacun de nous perçoit confusément en lui, dans la société et le monde, l’universelle présence." Elie Faure L’universalité de l’art circa 1900

Madhvi Parekh 1979 sketch pen on paper 38x28 cm

Madhvi Parekh 2005 acrylic on canvas 91x152 cm

Breaking boundaries with brushstrokes

Source The New Indian Express by Medha Dutta
Madhvi Parekh is not your run-of-the-mill folk artist. Inspired by her artist husband, this 74-year-old painter picked up the brush only after her marriage. She borrows heavily from the folk art form of Gujarat—she hails from Sanjay, a small village in the state—and is what one would call ‘a contemporary artist’. To Manu, his wife seemed a natural contender for the space left behind by legendary Bengal artist Jamini Roy, who had begun at the start of the 20th century.A series on Christ and The Last Supper were a surprise for a world that believed that one cannot, or rather, doesn’t, merge Christ with folk art form. The artist smiles, “As a child I was drawn to Christianity as I had some Christian friends. Later, when I visited the Holocaust museum in Israel, I walked out very disturbed. Just outside there was a small, peaceful church. It seemed the opposite of all the hatred and atrocity. The image of Jesus attracted me and I started drawing him.” Madhvi defies any boundaries on her art. This independent-minded artist will not let you pin her down to one single form. One meeting with her and you know that this petite woman is made of steel—she merges styles and forms at her will and overwhelms the art world with her give-a-damn attitude.
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Tarq’s This Burning Land Belongs To You comes to London

Source Architectural Digest
Exhibiting within the beautiful Swiss Cottage Gallery — itself an architectural landmark building designed by Sir Basil Spence (renowned for his brilliant Modernist and Brutalist designs), Tarq’s searing new exhibition, This Burning Land Belongs To You, trains the spotlight on contemporary Indian art.
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6 Indians on contemporary art’s global power list

Source DNA
If going up 30 positions on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index made us happy, then the Raqs Media Collective has given us a cause to truly rejoice. The New Delhi-based art collective, comprising Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, has jumped 47 positions to take the 39th spot on ArtReview’s 2017 Power 100 list. The global list is considered to be the most established ranking in the contemporary art world, and is compiled by international contemporary art magazine ArtReview. Artists Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale feature on the 84th spot, down from 83 last year while art collector, patron and philanthropist Kiran Nadar makes a debut on the 99th position.
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