MARC STRAUS showcases ‘not so exposed’ artists at the 14th edition of India Art Fair

India Art Fair, the platform showcasing contemporary and digital artistic talent drawn from different parts of the world is back in the capital city of India, in partnership with BMW. This year’s edition of the fair will showcase 85 exhibitors, including 71 galleries and 14 institutions. The art exhibition centre will showcase a fusion of works by art professionals and artists, along with a series of talks and live performances that will promote cultural art dialogues.

The 2023 edition expands to encompass modern art and digital artworks by creatives from India, other South Asian countries and international communities. Other than artworks, the fair also houses digital art, reflecting on the power of the digital world in the art market. Some of the digital artworks on display are—Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary and Log Kya Kahenge—by renowned digital artist like Mira Felicia Malhotra. The programme, Artists-in-Residence includes art pieces by Debashish Paul, taking us back to his life journey in ancient Banaras and Phulia and exploring his identity through art. Lakshmi Madhavan’s gold-and-white textile installation brings forward the lost kasavu textile tradition of Kerala and how its rejuvenation could help revive past culture.

Works by Indian contemporary galleries such as Vadehra Art Gallery, Gallery Espace, Chatterjee & Lal are set on par with contemporary global galleries like: MARC STRAUS, based in New York. MARC STRAUS is one of the leading contemporary art galleries of New York that showcases works by artists from across the world, especially those that lack exposure in showcasing and exhibiting their works. At the 14th edition of India Art Fair 2023, MARC STRAUS Gallery is exhibiting the works of Michael Brown, Omar Rodriguez-Graham, Clive Smith, Ulf Puder, Anne Samat, Anna Nero, and Xi Zhang.

New York-based contemporary artist Michael Brown, known for his ‘gold-leaf’ oil paintings, made of oil paint imprinted upon 24 karat gold leaf on canvas, giving out patterns of heavy threads, will be on display. The painting’s visual depiction highlights how threads with textures radiate outward, showing the centrifugal effect. The uneven pattern threads pay tribute to Agnes Martin’s paintings with horizontal pencil marks.

Mexico based artist Omar Rodriguez-Graham presents artworks that showcase the terrains of colour, texture, and time. He shows the abstraction of any artwork by digitally deconstructing products inspired by the Renaissance and Baroque paintings. In his painting Batalla en las Tinieblas, the bands of colour catch the viewer’s attention as they mark the main periphery of the painting.

Clive Smith, a portrait painter working in New York, through his work, remembers species that are now extinct. Most of his works are a fusion of different birds with famous art masterpieces, giving the creatures a reincarnation with new feathers and fur patterns.

Ulf Puder, who lives and works in Leipzig and Liemehna, Germany, is a landscape artist working on the concept of paintings that show the fusion of culture and nature. Puder addresses the world's ongoing crisis and attempts to awaken viewers to get up and think. In his work, The Icebergs 3, he applies a new technique, by using a spatula in place of traditional painting tools. He also uses tape to show defined edges or to highlight important elements of the work like the breaks in the iceberg in his painting.

In addition to the artists above, other noteworthy showcases by international galleries include Galleria Continua, Bruno Art Gallery, Aicon, all of whom are truly conquering the world of contemporary art through their artists. The art fair is not only a place to showcase artists or their works but also a hub where visitors can delve into the thought process that guides the painters. It's a place of fusing cultures through live performances, a place where the social life of the artists, curators, collectors and art professionals thrives.

India Art Fair will remain open to the public from February 9 to 12, 2023, at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in New Delhi, India

Text by Pratishtha Vashishth