Art revival in Paris with Indian artists on board

It has to be the audacity of self-confidence.

There, under the intimidating, soaring glass-domed ceiling of the Grand Palais in Paris sat Anish Kapoor’s 20-foot sculpture titled Slug, a coil of unspooling intestines ending in a brazen, glistening red vagina-like structure.

Repelling yet enigmatically stirring, this sculpture with a price tag of $2.8 million, was the piece de resistance at one of Paris’s trendiest new galleries, Kamel Mennour, at FIAC (Foire Internationale d’art contemporain), Paris’s contemporary art fair that concluded recently.

Perhaps, the Mumbai-born British artist was leaving his calling card: he will be right back next summer for Monumenta, the annual contemporary art exhibition at the Grand Palais. Much before that, Kapoor will be in India with his first exhibition in his country of origin. It will open at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi on November 27. But I digress.

What I really set out to write about was the growing buzz about FIAC as well as the quiet, fledgling, but sure emergence of Indian artists (not to speak of those of Indian origin) on the European contemporary art scene.
First, FIAC. Over the last few years, this art fair had become a wilting wallflower on the contemporary art scene.

A dealer even said that it had “become too French”. Now, something has shifted: there’s a certain optimism blowing in the wind. This time, the fair had 123 foreign galleries and many international collectors participating. Interestingly, one of the world’s most powerful dealers, Larry Gagosian, opened his gallery in Paris during FIAC. The fact was not lost on international buyers.

The French have gone all out to retrieve their status in the world of art. High-quality exhibitions such as the Takashi Murakami exhibition in the Versailles Palace and the magnificent Claude Monet exhibition at the Grand Palais are attracting hordes of visitors. What’s more, the French are adding wall texts in English.

Interestingly, there were several contemporary art fairs at the same time as FIAC. Art Elysees Art fair exhibits modern and contemporary art and features some of the best galleries. Slick Art Fair this year focused on young artists with galleries based in China, India, Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon and the Philippines. A young Indian art gallery that made its presence felt was Delhi-based Aparajita Jain’s Seven Art Limited.

This year, there was one Indian gallery at FIAC — the Mumbai-based Chemould Prescott Road that showcased the works of Mithu Sen, Jitesh Kallat, Aditi Singh, Hema Upadhyay and Desmond Lazaro. However, several desi artists have been gliding into European blue chip galleries: At FIAC, there’s Atul Dodiya (Daniel Templon), Subodh Gupta (In Situ gallery/Fabienne Leclerc) and New-York-based Rina Banerjee (Nathalie Obadia). Anish Kapoor looms large on the international contemporary art scene.

Nevertheless, collectors are beginning to zoom in on other Indian artists. Lately, Paris-and-Cholamandal-based painter Viswanadhan (his paintings were at the Art Elysees Art fair) has had several knocks on the door of his studio from a few collectors and dealers who see him as the next big thing.
Intriguingly enough, two French dealers I met mentioned that Viswanadhan’s paintings had the same quality as the works of Pierre Soulages, the French abstract painter who had a major retrospective at the Center Pompidou last winter.

Namaste India alright.