Jacqueline Fernandez visits prominent art galleries of Mumbai

Most people might celebrate the end of a long work project with a spa day or splurging at their favourite stores, Jacqueline Fernandez on the other hand, decided to celebrate the release of her new film 'Kick' with a rather unconventional shopping trip. Together we visited some of the cities art galleries and selected a few new pieces of art for her home.

It might come as surprise, but the truth is that anyone can collect and buy art intelligently, even without an art expert showing them around. All you need is a love and appreciation of fine art and design and a few simple techniques to help evaluate the work you're interested in. Don't be afraid to ask questions about the work. Who is the artist? Where the artist has exhibited? Where and with whom has the artist studied? What is the artwork's provenance, history and documentation? And most importantly, is the asking price is fair?

Its also important to remember that there's also no wrong or right kind of work to buy or collect. Both Jacqueline and I live in predominately white spaces, the art I collect is more muted, minimal with primarily earthy tones. Jacqueline on the other hand is drawn to more vibrant, animated works with a theatrical presence. After an entire day of gallery hopping, these are few of her highlights.

Prajakta Potnis at Project 88
Prajakta Potnis's work inhabits the space between the intimate world of an individual and the outside world, which she explains is separated by what she calls a 'wall'. The artist works with painting, photography and site specific installations. After having come across the artists work at Pali Village Café earlier this year, Jacqueline became especially interested in the some of the artists photographic works. " I was immediately interested in the artist after having seen her work at your project at Pali Village Café," she told me, " I love the way the artist plays with our sense of scale and space. For instance, a small piece of cauliflower appears to be nuclear explosion in the series of works in which she photographs objects in refrigerators." The Mumbai based artist has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions including the Venice biennale.

Rana Begum at Jhaveri Contemporary
Rana Begum's brightly-colored, bent steel pieces may appear as minimal geometric objects but are imbued with complexity and depth. 'It's beautiful the way the object shifts based on perspective," Jacqueline tells me, " to take a simple shape and animate it with colour demonstrates the artists creativity."

Begum is based in London but is originally from Bangladesh. Working predominantly with minimal sculpture, Begum's aesthetic is simple, intelligent and refined. Her inspiration comes from architecture, whether it's the streets of London or Islamic architecture from India, Bangladesh and the Middle East. Apart from urban architecture and geometry, Begum's other fascination is colour. She describes her practice as "an investigative process of the interplay of form, angle and colour.'

Desmond Lazaro at Chemould Prescott Road
Having trained as a Picchvai and miniature painter, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, Lazaros work is full of interesting materials and symbolisms. His work occupies a space between the traditional and modern. While the imagery, context and meaning in his work is constantly shifting, Lazaro approaches the work with a methodical, process based manner. " I really like traditional miniature painting, I think the artist perfectly combines this with a contemporary sensibility. And I really enjoy his use of Blue,' Jacqueline explains. Lazaro's work is a unique combination of the modern and ancient, individual and collective, craft and technology and east and west making it a visually and contextually expressive body of work.

Radhika Khimji at Project 88
The Indian-Omani artist Radhika Khimji opened her first solo exhibition in Mumbai at Project 88 this week. Khimji fills the gallery space with an interesting selection of drawings, sculptures and mixed media collages. The exhibition is a culmination of Khimji's research and exploration is the idea of the desexualized female nude, which probes the relationship between the body, gesture and architecture. The exhibition runs until the 14th August so make sure to have a look.