India is home to a vibrant and diverse contemporary art scene, with various artists working in various mediums and styles. Indian artists are among the world’s artists and are highly debated for their portrayal of art skills. Contemporary art is distinctive and not created to soothe the eye of the audience.
Indian contemporary artist portray changes in society through the art form. One of the most exciting aspects of India’s contemporary art scene is the way that it is constantly evolving and growing. New Indian contemporary artists are emerging all the time, and a thriving community of curators, critics, and galleries like IndiGalleria is working to promote and showcase the work of these artists.
The Indian contemporary artist is not limited to just contemporary visual art. Many Indian contemporary artist also works in literature, music, and theatre.
Let’s glimpse through some of the top 10+ Indian contemporary artist who are shaping contemporary art.
Top 10+ Indian Contemporary Artist
1. Zarina
Zarina is an Indian contemporary artist known for her printmaking, sculpture, and installation artwork. She has lived and worked in several countries, including India, Pakistan, the United States, and France. Her work explores themes of displacement, migration, and identity, drawing on her own experiences as a woman and an artist of Indian origin who has lived and worked in a variety of cultural contexts.
Zarina’s Woodcuts and intaglio prints are highly reductive in their forms, often stylized and simplified. Instead, her artwork depicts the idea of memory and longing that connects her to her homeland India. Zarina’s work is deeply personal and reflects her experiences as an artist and a woman of Indian origin.
Her work has been exhibited extensively in galleries and museums worldwide, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. Zarina is an artist whose work has strong ties to her roots but also exhibits her worldly experiences, which reflect the elaborateness and richness of the contemporary Indian art scene.
2. Abbas Batliwala
Born in 1958 in Udaipur, Abbas Batliwala is an experienced Indian contemporary artist. Abbas is renowned for making big-sized eyed art. Though the eyes look scary, they are full of emotion and cute. He creates unique art on the daily life of rural culture and portrays them impeccably on canvas with oil. Almost all galleries in New Delhi, Jaipur, Jammu, and Kashmir have Abbas’s art displayed. Abbas’s art holds satire with high humor. However, the literary puns and formulated images with sharp wit add uniqueness to his art. The excellent craftsmanship with urban humor, Abbas always maintained fundamental values. In 1982, Abbas graduated with a master’s degree in painting from Udaipur. Abbas took part in various art exhibitions and bagged several awards.
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3. AtulDodiya
The most celebrated Indian contemporary artist in India, AtulDodiya, creates contemporary art encompassing strong images that initiate feelings and memories. Moreover, he brings out political ideologies in his artwork. Atul’s artwork has reached up to $5,00,000 in auctions. The historical and political aspects of his paintings engage people’s minds globally. Lodging in Somnath was his latest artwork that fetched him 3.3 crores in auctions. Atul’s presentation of tradition in a contemporary style has fetched his popularity across the globe.
4. Bharti Kher
Born in London, Bharti Kher was the second most expensive Indian contemporary artist, ranking 102 by art price. ‘The skin speaks a language not its own’ was one of Bharti’s amazing artworks that fetched her USD 1.5 million in Sotheby’s auction. She mainly concentrates on animals and nature and includes Indian Bindi in her art to depict feminine touch. Her works often have a feminist edge and critically engage with India’s cultural and social reality. Her unique creations are sold in auctions for millions.
5. Tirthankar Biswas
Tirthankar Biswas was born in 1957 in Naihati, West Bengal, and is renowned for his unique approach to art. He developed his career in fine arts by joining the Government College of arts and crafts in Kolkata. He upgraded his fine arts skill by joining the academy of fine arts in Belgium. Thirthankar’s art usually discovers the juncture between Indian traditional art and contemporary aesthetics. His pieces are unique as he employs various mediums such as charcoal, paint, ink, etc. Generally, his art portrays scenes of everyday life in India with abstract images that involve emotions and thoughts. The expressive brush strokes and bold colors make his art unique. Moreover, Tirthankar’s art is striking and dynamic with exceptional style. His artwork has been exhibited in various galleries and museums across the globe.
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6. SheelaGodwa
Sheela Godwa stands out from the rest of her unique thinking of using everyday city materials, such as kumkum, cow dung, hair, tar drums, incense, etc., as her material for the artwork. She is renowned for her large sculptures and installations that fascinate the environs. She focuses on particulars of human nature and social events.
Her themes are usually about everyday affairs created from everyday items around us. One of her most notable works is the sculpture “Behold, the most beautiful thing in the world” (2011), which was made of cow dung, jute, and human hair and attracted international attention for its use of these unconventional materials.
7. Ravinder Reddy
Ravinder Reddy, an Indian contemporary artist or sculptor, is renowned for his fugitive works utilizing bright glossy surfaces. Reddy usually employs hyper-realistic Indian women in his sculpture work. The women in Reddy’s work are exaggerated, gorgeous with wide eyes, and are secular folk art. Reddy’s fear, love, and fascination are found in all his artwork.
The Lakshmi devi sculptor with golden colors was a highlight in Christie’s sale of contemporary art that fetched him USD 312000. Ravinder Reddy’s works have been seen as noteworthy contributions to the Indian contemporary art scene for their exclusive approach to figuration, use of vibrant and remarkable colors, and focus on the illustration of Indian women.
8. Manoj Sarkar
Manoj Sarkar is unquestionably an eminent contemporary artist born in 1952 in Kolkata. He focuses on extraordinary artwork related to the human condition, landscape, and nature. He uses vibrant and bold colors amalgamating dynamic bunch strokes showcasing energy and movement. Though he works with acrylic and oil paints, he utilizes materials charcoal and sand to add depth and texture to the painting. Manoj’s art presents the relationship between nature and man and concentrates on preserving the natural environment. His artwork has been exhibited in various museums and galleries internationally and nationally. His artwork is thought-provoking and visually striking for the audience.
9. Shilpa Gupta
The celebrated contemporary painter portrays human nature in art form. Her exceptional use of multimedia for artform amazes the audiences. Her work reflects the quickly changing political and cultural landscape in India and abroad. Shilpa’s unique work was exhibited in many international exhibitions the Sharjah Biennale, Venice Biennale, and Gwangju Biennale. Her artwork at Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctions gained her USD 50,000.
“My east is your west” is one of her eminent creations exploring human experiences. The work is an installation of giant LED signs which portray text messages from visitors across the globe. The messages are sent through Twitter and displayed on the sign in real. The main intention of Gupta’s art is to spark conversation and encourage people to think critically regarding the world around them. Intelligent artists employ technology to link people and break barriers between nation and culture.
10. Nikhil Chopra
While listing out Indian contemporary artists, one cannot ignore Nikhil Chopra, a Goa-based artist. Chopra’s art is unique because he uses charcoal drawings that portray real or raw imaginative characters and grabs the audience’s attention.
His art stands out from the rest and is a complex merger of painting, durational performance, photography, and sculpture. He portrays issues related to history, politics, identity, and body. Chopra’s performances often comprise him spending quite a lot of hours in a single location, where he draws on large sheets of paper and incorporates elements of storytelling, role-playing, and other theatrical elements.
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11. Siddharth Shingade
The influential young artist Siddharth Shingade was born in 1983 in Maharashtra. The young Indian contemporary artist is well-known for his colorful and bold paintings that employ social and political observation. His art owes a personal language where his figures appear tall and associated with history with great stories to portray.
Siddharth’s artwork describes scenes of India’s everyday life, such as urban landscape, laborers, street vendors, etc. He focuses on Indian folk art and uses vibrant colors for striking images. He expresses emotion in art with vibrant colors, and his work celebrates Indian culture.
12. Jitish Kallat
Jitish Kallat works with an array of materials and makes sculptures, paintings, and installations by taking inspiration from the paradoxes and people of Mumbai. He highlights the socio-political scenarios of the dynamic city and also portrays the lives of working people in Mumbai. A few of his famous pieces are cover letters and public notices 3. His works have been recognized globally in various international and national exhibits in solo and group show at the Singapore biennale, Istanbul biennale, and Venice Biennale. He also received numerous honors and awards, with the prestigious Padma Shri award from the Indian government in 2018.
13. Sahej Rahal
The Forbes Indian art award winner in 2014, Sahej Rahal creates films, drawings, biomorphic sculptures, and ritualistic performances in his art. Sahej Rahal is a leading Indian contemporary artist whose work is an amalgamation of performance, sculpture, and installation. His art draws together hidden history and local legends and portrays them in a contemporary mode.
Most of his art reflects intersections of history, mythology, and technology. His mythologies are revealed using paintings, sculptural installations, films, performances, and video games. All these are created using profound materials such as salvaged furniture, digital ephemera, everyday residue, etc.
Sahej has participated in numerous prestigious exhibitions. A few of them include Hartware Median KunstVerein, Germany, Technoshamanism, etc. The unimaginable was one of his famous artworks, a large-scale installation of mechanical sculptures of mythical creatures made from recycled materials. The sculpture was accompanied by a performance where the creature is brought to life through a combination of robotics and human performers, exploring ideas about the relationship between technology and the body, as well as the creation and destruction of myths. His unique and imaginative blending of Indian folklore and cultural history with technology creates an immersive and thought-provoking experience for audiences.
14. Subodh Gupta
Subodh Gupta is another leading Indian contemporary artist who works in various media. He is renowned for his monumental sculptural work with everyday materials such as tin cans, lunch boxes, cookware, etc. He utilizes all these objects to portray multiple meanings and reflect India’s status. With his creativity, Subodh Gupta also questions the society between globalization and traditional customs, old caste politics, booming wealth, religious beliefs, etc.
Gupta’s work has its root in history and Indian culture and portrays the link between rural, urban, traditional, and modern aspects of Indian society. “The Very Hungry God,” made from only stainless steel cooking utensils, was one of Gupta’s best artworks. The sculpture is a commentary on consumerism and the impact of Western culture on India, and it is a symbol of the country’s rapid modernization. Gupta’s artwork took place globally in several prestigious art fairs, museums, and biennales.
Conclusion
In recent years, the interest in Indian contemporary art has also been increasing globally. Auctions and exhibitions in prestigious international institutions like the Tate Modern and Centre Georges Pompidou are evidence of the increasing popularity of Indian contemporary artists. Overall, the contemporary art scene in India is dynamic and exciting, with a wealth of talented artists creating thought-provoking and visually stunning works that speak to a wide range of issues and concerns.
