Art in India has changed and transformed over time as art is no longer just a form of expression of the artist; Art also represents the voice of the underrepresented. Artists today create art with their bare hands, using modern mediums such as sculptures and even digital art, rather than pottery and painting. This is what gives it a lasting impression on those who see it. For Indian contemporary artists, it is not about the profit they make on their paintings but the shades of society that they show through their art. Here are 5 such artists, each telling important stories through their art in their own unique way! 

5 Indian Contemporary artists that are creating change with their art 

1. Anish Kapoor:

Anish Kapoor is notable for his exquisite sculptures with simple geometries and organic forms that he creates using engineering marvels. Optical illusions and convex and concave surfaces, as well as mirrors, are recurring motifs in his work. Cloud Gate (2006), a reflecting stainless steel sculpture in Chicago known as “The Bean,” and Orbit (2012), a looping structure of tubular steel built in honor of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, are two of his most well-known works. 

His work is currently held in the permanent collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Moderna Museet, among others. At several popular auctions, a handful of his pieces have fetched more than $1 million.

2. Bharti Kher:

Bharti Kher, who was born in London, relocated to New Delhi to focus solely on her work as a contemporary artist. Her work has earned her a reputation as one of India’s most popular modern artists. Painting, sculpturing, and installation are all part of Kher’s aesthetic. She frequently adds bindis, an Indian women’s famous forehead ornament, into her paintings. Nevertheless, they are primarily animal and naturalistic in nature. Moreover, she has made many sales at auctions all around the world.

When Bharti Kher’s painting ‘The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own’ sold for £1.1 million, she became the top-selling Indian female artist. 

3. Sheela Gowda:

Sheela Gowda’s art is representative of the soil of this country as she uses materials such as cow dung, red kumkum, turmeric, incense, human hair, gold-leaf, ceremonial dyes, coconut fibers, needles, threads, and string that depicts urban and rural India. Gowda’s art changed Indian art forever as it is strongly reliant on its technique, which blurs the lines between art and craft and raises questions about the role of female subjectivity in the context of contemporary India’s religion, nationalism, and domestic violence.

‘Tell Him of My Pain’ (2001) was a three-dimensional drawing made up of almost 100 meters of coiled thread colored with red kumkum that was hung and stretched across the room. To illustrate the agony of female domestic life in a patriarchal society, the work addresses India’s spice culture and the textile industry, both of which are typically components of a woman’s life experience.

4. Priyanka Paul:

Priyanka Paul is an illustrator, poet, writer, storyteller, and one of the most creative Indian contemporary artists. She is a member of the Bahujan and LGBTQIA+ community and publicly advocates for it. Paul stands out for being candid on social media regarding a variety of societal issues, most notably caste, gender, mental health, and body acceptance. She hopes that through her art, she would be able to emphasize the importance of critically. Examine the acceptance and reinforcement of societal institutions and conventions, as well as re-evaluating everything that the society categorizes as ‘bad’. She represents ‘today’s artists in India’ has successfully collaborated with leading brands such as Vogue, One plus among others. 

5. Siddhesh Gautam:

Siddhesh Gautam is a multi-discipline, mixed-media artist, designer, writer, researcher, and Ambedkarite based in Delhi. He wants to portray the utopian society that he imagines. And claims that he won’t accomplish that by inventing a fake reality. Instead, his art challenges the status quo by transforming readers of his satirical works into thinking citizens. These are full of surrealist motifs, inspired by the Dadaist movement. Besides, his art makes the audience explore the real world around them. Apart from this, it also creates progressive spaces for them to learn and grow. Gautam has collaborated with some of the most prestigious publishers, media outlets, institutions, politicians, academics, and intellectuals.

There is a great demand for change in today’s world, which is why Indian contemporary art is on the rise. When it comes to creating art, each of these artists has a unique method to convey their message. Their art has a greater meaning for them, frequently addressing the larger society.

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