Find out who’s exhibiting at India Art Fair 2020

The 12^th edition of India Art Fair takes place at the NSIC Grounds in New Delhi from 30 January – 2 February 2020, in partnership with BMW Group India. Celebrating the very best in South Asian modern and contemporary art, the event will also feature an expanded programme, including live performances, talks and more. Here, we share a selection of highlights:

Contemporary art galleries from across India

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). Click here to see the full list of exhibitors.

Each year, the fair presents fresh, exciting works by some of the world’s leading contemporary artists, 2019. Courtesy of India Art Fair

Leading modernists and exceptional historical pieces

The 2020 showcase will be presented 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).

Visitors admire a painting by Manjit Bawa, 2019. Courtesy of India Art Fair

New international exhibitors

New international galleries participating in India Art Fair for the first time include: Saskia Fernando Gallery (Colombo, Sri Lanka), PSM(Berlin, Germany), Marc Straus (New York, USA) and Gallery Tableau (Seoul, South Korea). 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).

Berlin-based gallery neugerriemschneider will showcase works by internationally acclaimed artist Olafur Eliasson © Studio Olafur Eliasson. Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin

Curated sections

This year’s Focus section, which showcases pivotal solo presentations curated by participating galleries includes: Ratheesh T. by Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke (Mumbai), Girjesh Kumar Singh by Rukshaan Art (Mumbai), Anjan Modak by Emami Art (Kolkata), Avijit Dutta by Kalakriti Art Gallery (Hyderabad), D. Dhasan by Apparao Galleries (Chennai), K.S. Radhakrishnan by Gallerie Nvya (New Delhi), and Subodh Kerkar by Gallery Art Positive (Delhi).

Platform, a popular section of the fair that acts as a springboard for emerging artists, art practices and collectives from South Asia, will include Britto Arts Trust (Dhaka), Delhi Crafts Council (Delhi) and Metta Contemporary (Navi Mumbai) returning following their 2019 participation. New participants under this section, Arts of the Earth and Gallery Ragini (all Delhi), will highlight 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), Inlaks India Foundation (New Delhi) and Korean Cultural Centre India (all Delhi). Swaraj Art Archive (Noida) will shine a spotlight on early 20^th 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 acclaimed international artist and 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.

Pichvai Tradition & Beyond. Temple Map, 2019. Stone colours on cloth. Courtesy of Pichvai Tradition and Beyond

Talks, Performances, Films and Artists in Residence

This year the fair expands on its programme with new artist led workshops and display by Artists in Residence featuring specialist run sessions ranging from drawing and illustration to paper and zine making by artists Gagan Singh and Ghiora Aharoni, Marcel Dzama, Manisha Parekh and Renuka Rajiv.

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; and multi-disciplinary artist Piyali Ghosh following from her recent exhibition at the Venice Biennale.

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 modernist Nilima Sheikh, Turner prize nominated Bangladeshi-British artist Naeem Mohaiemen, Polish-German sculptural installation artist Alicja Kwade 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 expertsKishore Singh and Shireen Gandhy respectively. Other topics will engage discussions on ‘Plans for Future Museums’ with Sophie Makariou and Kamani Sawhney from The Guimet and Museum of Art & Photography, ‘South Asian Textile Art’ with led by Uthra Rajgopal from the Whitworth, a presentation on the upcoming Asia Triennale New York by Boon Hui Tan of Asia Society, amongst others. In 2020, India Art Fair will also partner with Godrej India Culture Lab to deliver a Film Programme on the theme Queering Culture.

Bangladeshi artist Yasmin Jahan Nupur who was part of India Art Fair’s first ever performance art programme, 2019. Courtesy of India Art Fair

A book lover’s paradise

The Bookshop and Cafe will feature an extended range of publications including self-published art books, magazines, exhibition catalogues, graphic novels and zines, as well as art supplies, stationery and products, complimented by conversational sessions, workshops and masterclasses targeted at young students and collectors.

CMYK Bookshop at India Art Fair 2019. Courtesy of India Art Fair

Andy Warhol’s BMW Art Car

Marking their fifth year with India Art Fair, Presenting Partner BMW Group India will return to the fair to exclusively showcase the 4^th BMW Art Car created by Andy Warhol with the BMW M1 in 1979. Andy Warhol is 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. See highlights of the BMW Art Car presentation here.

Andy Warhol’s BMW Art Car will make its journey from the BMW Museum in Munich to India Art Fair in New Delhi. Courtesy of BMW Group Culture

IAF Parallel

Beyond the fair’s grounds, IAF Parallel provides a year-round opportunity to explore galleries, museums and arts spaces across New Delhi and beyond. Click here to see the latest IAF Parallel events.