This exhibition elevates Chennai's art legacy with 37 Indian contemporary artists

For years, Chennai has quietly nurtured its own artistic legacy, steeped in pedagogy and bound to institutions that shaped generations of painters and sculptors. Yet, in India’s wider art conversation, the city has often been left on the margins. Enter Contemporary Now, an exhibition aimed at placing Chennai on the country’s contemporary art map.

This Chennai art exhibition brings 37 artists and 5 galleries under one roof

The art show brings five of India’s popular galleries— Chemould Prescott Road, Vadehra Art Gallery, Chatterjee & Lal, Experimenter, and Chennai’s own Ashvita’s—together under one roof. The result is a panoramic survey of 37 artists from across the country animating the Indian art today.

“If we want to do something impactful for art in Chennai, we must bring the best of what is happening in the country to the city,” says Ashvin E Rajagopalan, the director of Ashvita’s, who is also the curator of Contemporary Now. “And the best of what is happening —not in terms of ranking, but in visibility and relevance—is happening with these galleries. So we asked them, and to my surprise, they said yes,” he adds.

In Contemporary Now, each gallery has its own section. The exhibition is framed through six thematic strands—identity and the body, dialogues between tradition and modernity, socio-political engagement, ecology, material experimentation, and storytelling through myth and memory.

“I think the visitors would feel energised and enthused with what they see. A range of artistic practices that challenge existing ideas and make you self-reflect, confront the viewers through the exhibition. One is able to engage with artists working in a wide range of mediums that explore political, ecological, and social ideas and visitors can feel a sense of enquiry and inquisitiveness with each work,” shares Prateek Raja and Priyanka Raja, of Experimenter.

The show is as much about curation as it is about access. “It is literally about upgrading Chennai’s understanding of art,” Ashwin reflects. Roshini Vadehra of Vadehra Art Gallery also shares her perspective of Chennai as an art centre. “Chennai has always had a strong cultural legacy. With more collectors and young audiences engaging, we see real momentum. A show like this introduces Chennai to a wide spectrum of practices from across India, while also bringing outside galleries into dialogue with the city.”

For the visitors, the experience is both intimate and expansive. Unlike earlier generations of Indian modernists, the contemporary artists cannot be boxed into schools or styles. Some are self-taught, others trained abroad, but deeply rooted in local geographies. What unites them is conversation—their works are alive with questions of belonging, climate, gender, memory, and the body.

Here, each gallery retains its individuality while also contributing to a collective vision. Shireen Gandhy of Chemould Prescott Road shares, “We are usually so particular about how we hang works. But Ashwin sent us a little preview of how the works would go and I just said, yes, go for it. Walking in, I was so pleasantly surprised by how beautifully it’s curated.”

Adding to this, Mortimer Chatterjee and Tara Lal of Chatterjee & Lal opines, “Most galleries today tend to have programmes, which provide certain threads throughout the art they show. As such it becomes relatively easy to present cohesive exhibitions. Whilst each of our artists have different concerns, it was relatively easy to show them in the same space, as the scale of the works chosen is fairly uniform.”

“Each of the five galleries has a strong, distinct curatorial vision, which is exactly why they were selected,” Ashwin adds.

Contemporary Now invites viewers to lose themselves in the sheer variety of practices on display. It invites Chennai’s students, its artists, its curious art enthusiasts to enter the national conversation with confidence.

Open to all. On till September 17. 11 am to 7 pm. At Lalit Kala Akademi, Greams Road.

Email: apurva.p@newindianexpress.com

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