Indulge in art across Mumbai's galleries and experimental spaces

Go on a daily diet of art for the next two months as galleries, and streets, get creative

Art through the years

A collection of art objects from 1950 to 1990, Knotted Roots displays words by Shanti Dave, Akkitham Narayanan, Nareen Nath, Laxman Pai, Sohan Qadri, PC Sagara and Nelly Sethna. All the artists are often influenced and informed by India’s rich artistic heritage. Collectively, these works represent the peculiar form of systematic collecting that was found in the country’s larger cities until the mid-1990s, which saw the onset of what is now understood to be our contemporary art landscape. The exhibit draws on the concerns of artists and collectors at a critical time of transition, and highlights preoccupations of artists today.
Knotted Roots is on view
At: Chatterjee & Lal, Colaba. Ongoing 
Till: December 31

The World of Van Gogh

Coming to India in 2023, the iconic immersive art experience, Van Gogh 360, allows one to step into Vincent van Gogh’s world. More than 300 of his post-Impressionist style sketches, drawings, and paintings will be digitally projected floor-to-ceiling, giving one the feeling of being within them. Set to music, you move through dramatic brushstrokes and vivid hues for an hour. And sit under a Starry Night and Almond Blossoms, literally.
Van Gogh 360 is on view
At: The Arcade Shopping Centre, World Trade Centre
From: January 20 to February 17, 2023

Honouring a milestone

A travelling exhibition honouring Paresh Maity’s career—spread over more than three decades—prides itself on being the largest solo exhibition in India till date. A total of 150 sculptures, ceramics, paintings, film, sketches and installations will be on display. Maity feels the exhibition is a “culmination of years of quest, seeking to capture the essence of nature—the most important inspiration for my work. In life, while we try to capture what we see, we also keep changing our way of seeing things. The way I looked at a landscape 20 years ago is not how I see it now. My journey has led me to not only discover the chiaroscuro of light and shade, but also an inner tranquility”. 
Infinite Light is on view
At: Art Musings from December 14 to 31

Collaborative experiments

æquō, the collectible-design focused gallery, is showcasing a global perspective on India’s artisanal craft through the works of Valériane Lazard, Chamar, Wendy Andreu, Frederic Lambert, Cedric Courtin and Florence Louisy. Pairing intricate and skilled workmanship with simple handmade techniques, unfinished raw objects are balanced next to impeccably finished pieces of furniture. The real treat is the range of materials on display—recycled rubber by Mumbai-based studio Chamar preciously sitting against the intricate hand embroidery of Vastrakala, Chennai. The entire mise en scène feels like the home of a constant collector.
Kothi is on view at æquō, Colaba till December 28

Fresh blood

Anirban Mishra is a young artist favoured by budding collectors. His work is deeply influenced by the simplicity and harmony of his childhood in Tamluk, West Bengal. Echoing a time when he felt safe, Mishra seeks this sense of solitude that is becoming harder and rarer to come by in cities. The depiction of solitude is a recurring theme, where he  constantly attempts to capture the dizzying differences between his hometown and a modern city under construction. The coffee wash hues in each artwork serve as a symbol of sepia-toned memories, transporting a viewer for a single moment to an era that doesn’t exist anymore.
In: Solitude I Seek by Anirban Mishra is on view
At: Akara, Colaba, till December 22

Depth of field

In her solo show, Atul and Anju Dodiya’s artist daughter Biraaj Dodiya brings a series of dense and textured paintings and sculptures. They are a deconstruction of support structures that symbolise how landscapes are built, eroded, and repurposed. As a resident at the gallery, her art has been a constant process of removal and reapplication of paint, similar to the formations of landscapes which she feels offer notions of erasure. The paintings develop much like an excavation site with extended processes of layering and digging.
Every Bone a Song by Biraaj Dodiya is on view
At: Experimenter, Colaba, till December 23

Vivid strokes

Through a series of richly-hued gestural-stroked artworks, Berlin-based artist Michael Müller explores intellectual systems—scientific, linguistic, and numerical—that structure our understanding of the world. Known for his artistic range that includes text-based art, sculptures, performances and installations, this series sees him working with  linen canvas, glass and aluminium. Some paintings, such as Benares, are a nod to his Indian roots (via his grandmother), and symbolise a geographical location and kinship uniquely.
Thinking Hand is on view
At: Jhaveri Contemporary, Colaba, till December 30

Remains of the day

“Our free evenings and weekends were spent mostly at parties,” says Barbara Zinkant, as she launches into a story of how she met her ex-husband, the late artist FN Souza. “I met Francis Souza on one of these outings on January 19, 1964,” she continues. “I was very young, very innocent, and at 16, pretty much in awe of him.” “He wanted to paint my portrait, so about a week later, I went to his studio and he made many sketches of me. Watching him work was amazing—his signature clean lines, spreading paint on the canvas with a palette knife and taking a brush to create images where once there had been nothing. He never made changes or reworked a piece; he just moved on to the next one.” Zinkant and Souza were married for 12 years. Zinkat’s collection of Souza’s works ranges from pencil and charcoal drawings on paper, to acrylic, water colours and chemical alterations. Sixty-five of these will be auctioned this week. In the run up to the sale, the exhibit of portraits, nudes, still life paintings, and landscapes tells a quiet yet tumultuous story of a raw and flawed relationship, and of an artist with a predilection for shocking.
F N SOUZA: Works from the Collection of Barbara Zinkant is on view
From: December 8 till its live auction on December 17 at Saffronart, Prabhadevi

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