The Empire Strikes Back

Indian art has gone through a boom period in parallel with the extraordinary economic rise of the subcontinent from an agrarian state to a high tech axis of the new global economy.

With new money came a new gallery system. With bigger spaces came bigger art and the sheer scale of ambition led to a break into the international market, which is always keen to find a new spectacular presence in the art world. The new art has also been created against a background of communal tension and violence. The exploration of identity, a common enterprise for artists internationally, is all the more challenging in the context of India under transformation.

An exhibition of 26 artists from the world’s largest democracy. Despite homegrown contemporary art being under represented in public museums in India, its commercial and international success has allowed small ventures to grow into thriving art galleries in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, with outposts opening in Europe and the US. The rapid flourishing of this art scene on one hand and the recent economic downturn on the other have prompted critical questions about Indian culture and globalization in a country torn between a proudly independent mindset and a dependence on global consumption.

Against this backdrop, contemporary Indian artists are making a diverse range of work, which responds to the complexities of 21st century India. The Raj and its legacy, the failure of Gandhi’s and Nehru’s hopes for a harmonious secular India, remain rich subjects for many of the artists, whilst others are engaging with the country’s incredible urban expansion, its slums – some of the biggest in Asia – and issues around migration.