Exhibition on printmaking aims to start a conversation on the underappreciated art form

“Untouched, Backwards and Under Pressure”, which is on till October 20, comprises 50 works that include artist proofs, unique edition prints and matrices from established printmakers such as Jai Zharotia, Rini and PD Dhumal, to younger artists such as Aban Raza, Rajesh Deb and Jagadeesh Tammineni

Written by Vandana Kalra

Updated: October 15, 2023 07:17 AM IST

3 min read

Gulammohammed Sheikh’s Still Life with Landscape (Days of the Dagger) (Credit: Art Heritage)

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Upon entering the Art Heritage gallery in Delhi, viewers are introduced not to an artist but a medium that has largely remained underappreciated and undervalued in India. Believed to be one of the oldest art forms, a wall lists the commonly used terminologies associated with printmaking and its foremost practitioners in India. “The goal of the exhibition is to restart a conversation about printmaking and tackle some misconceptions about prints, such as they being simple reproductions. A combination of artistic creativity and scientific methodology, we are looking at the print medium from an alternative perspective in this exhibition — exploring the various stages of the printmaking process and the artworks that emerge along the way,” says Tariq Allana, associate director, Art Heritage.

There is a briefing on how to read the details of the captions before embarking on understanding the over 50 works that comprise the exhibition “Untouched, Backwards and Under Pressure”, which is on till October 20. Comprising artist proofs, unique edition prints and matrices, the gambit ranges from established printmakers such as Jai Zharotia, Rini and PD Dhumal, to younger artists such as Aban Raza, Rajesh Deb and Jagadeesh Tammineni. Representing the renowned modernists, among others, are lesser-viewed works of Arpana Caur and Gulammohammed Sheikh.

Kanchan Chander’s A Chilean Man (Credit: Art Heritage)

Known to respond to his socio-political surroundings, here we see Sheikh’s engagements with the medium over the years, from Riot (1971), recording the violence, to Meanderings (1990) that appears to share introspections. Also finding a symbolic place in the exhibition is Devraj Dakoji’s Rock Series (1977) that Allana informs belongs to the series exhibited by Art Heritage during its inaugural season in 1977. If Seema Kohli’s Mahavira (2014) is a zinc-plate etching based on the life of Mahavira, the 24th tirthankara, Kavita Jaiswal’s “Edinburgh India and me” series belongs to a juncture when the artist was moving from figurative to abstraction. The cover image on the invite, meanwhile, is Kanchan Chander’s A Chilean Man (1979), made when she was a guest student in printmaking at the College of Art in Santiago, Chile. “It is a beautiful medium with an element of surprise, given the artist can’t exactly predict the details of the final outcome,” says Delhi-based Chander.

Allana decodes the title: “When the print is created, at the exact moment of making, it is untouched by human hands, as the ink from the matrix transfers to the paper/canvas/other surface. It’s backwards because the image on the matrix is itself reversed, and it is under (controlled) pressure as it goes through the press.”

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

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