Original Shadows: A contemporary take on the enduring art of printmaking

At a time when digital speed often eclipses tactile experience, a new exhibition in Gurugram invites viewers to slow down and engage with one of art’s most labour-intensive mediums: printmaking.

Here's what to expect from the exhibition

Titled Original Shadows: Contemporary Expressions Across Mediums of Printmaking, this exhibition at Art Incept brings together 14 contemporary artists who explore the evolution of printmaking through a modern lens. On view from 17 July to 30 August 2025, the show is a survey of techniques both traditional and experimental—ranging from etching and woodcut to lithography, serigraphy, and mezzotint.

Featuring artists like Aditi Singh Shekhawat, Agwma Basumatari, Naveen Tungana, Tushar Sahay, among others, the exhibition underscores how an age-old practice rooted in replication and communication can serve as a powerful medium for personal expression and visual storytelling.

"This exhibition brings together a range of emerging practitioners working across techniques—from etchings and woodcuts to lithographs, Serigraphy, and hybrid processes that push the boundaries of the printed image. Each work is the result of a meticulous, hands-on engagement with material, surface, and time. While the final print may appear silent, it holds within it traces of pressure, movement, repetition, and resistance," Gayatri Singh, Director, Art Incept.

While historically associated with mass production—books, posters, and textiles—printmaking today offers a counterpoint to instant image culture. The artists in Original Shadows not only honour its history but also expand its possibilities by using hybrid methods and pushing the boundaries of material and form.

The works on display are notable not just for their aesthetic depth but for the process behind them. Each piece is the result of rigorous craft—balancing technical precision with creative intuition. Through this interplay, the exhibition proposes a new reading of the “original” in a medium often associated with multiples.

At a time when contemporary art often privileges the bold or the fast, this show invites a slower gaze—one that appreciates the layered nature of both the image and the making.

What sets Original Shadows apart is its accessible approach. Alongside the art, viewers can explore explanations of various techniques and their historical contexts—an effort to demystify the medium for first-time collectors, students, and curious observers. The exhibition hopes to open doors to a new generation of viewers eager to learn not just what contemporary art looks like, but how and why it is made.

“Printmaking holds tension between the intimate and the democratic,” shares Gayatri . “Through this exhibition, we hope to create space for deeper engagement—with the process, the maker, and the possibilities of the medium.”

The curatorial vision behind the show is guided by Rahul Kumar, an artist and arts writer known for mentoring emerging talent, and Jasneet Singh Bindra, a printmaker and arts professional with deep experience in printmaking practice and education. Together, they bring an insider’s understanding of both the medium’s challenges and its transformative potential.

J️uly 18 to August 30 2025. Monday to Saturday. 11 am to 6.30 pm. At Art Incept, DLF Phase 5, Gurugram