Arpita Singh’s Fifteen Clouds Three Flower (2006-2007)Courtesy of Christie’s
Know Your South Asian Art
As the euro-smug international art world continues to drop millions on chalet décor at this week’s Art Basel in Switzerland, American collectors at the fair — and there are fewer than usual this year — have been talking excitedly about the bargain investment opportunities presented by a relatively untapped market: contemporary Indian art. Pegged as the next phenomenon to catch fire among international collectors, Indian art is also about to receive a prominent platform next Wednesday when work by the hottest artists goes on the block at Christie’s South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art auction in London. For those whose grasp of the field doesn’t extend beyond Anish Kapoor (who’s based in London anyway), here’s a quick primer on the heavies of Indian art.
Subodh Gupta
Born in 1964, Gupta is both one of the most recognizable and the most Pop-friendly artists to emerge from the vibrant New Delhi scene — and as a result one of the priciest. Sharing Kapoor’s affinity for shiny surfaces, he’s best known for building art out of the ubiquitous stainless-steel containers that Indians use for transporting food, either painting them, casting them, or, most striking, forming them into imposing sculptures like Very Hungry God, a gleaming cookware skull. At Christie’s another such sculpture is expected to fetch up to $1 million, and a triptych painting of his already sold for that price on Basel’s opening day.
Anju Dodiya’s Untitled (1993)Courtesy of Christie’s
