Delhi art scene hots up with the arrival of monsoons

Curated exhibitions are under way, but it’s the significant solos that are keeping artists busy

Exhibit 320 will bring Princess Pea in September,

Artists say there is no season for art, but gallerists vouch for the season to sell. Shutters in the art district come down as temperatures sore, only to open with the monsoons. Clouds bring not just respite from heat, but also mark the arrival of significant exhibitions and a bustling art calendar.

Curated shows are becoming a constant, but solos will always retain the charm — after all it gives an opportunity to view a large body of work by an artist.

“Solos represent a trajectory of the artist’s career. It’s the journey of a single artist, what path the artist has taken and not taken to achieve where they stand,” says Sonia Ballaney from Vadehra Art Gallery. The gallery known to have organised some of the most important shows of the masters will be exhibiting, among others, a retrospective of Rameshwar Broota in October. In collaboration with Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, this will comprise his early satires, his acclaimed ape series and the blade scrapings. Scheduled in January, meanwhile, is an extensive solo of Padma Bhushan recipient A Ramachandran. Celebrating 60 years of his career in art, the ground floor of the Defence Colony gallery will have on display paintings and sculptures, while the first floor will showcase over 3,000 drawings. Publications on Broota and Ramachandran will also be released alongside.

Preparing for another awaited solo is Sunaina Anand, director of Art Alive Gallery. She will have Parisian artist Sakti Burman’s recent work in her gallery in February. Preceding that will be Sudhir Tailang’s cartoons in November.

Known more for the curatorial exhibitions it hosts, Latitude 28 will focus on solos in the coming months. “These are young artists I have been working with during the last three-four years. I’ve showed them in group shows and I think now they have a substantial body of work for a solo,” says Bhavna Kakar, director of Latitude 28. She has four solos of four contemporary artists lined till January. Baroda graduate Deepjyoti Kalita’s installations will open the season in September and Nilofer Suleman’s kitschy acrylics will travel from Bangalore to the Lado Sarai gallery in November. “Solos can make or break a younger artists career, so one should be careful. Commercially too, the risk is much higher when compared with group shows. In the latter, there is a wider possibly of something for everyone, but with a solo a collector might or might not like an artist,” says Kakar.

Anu Bajaj of Gallery Art Positive agrees. She is planning a solo of sculptor Dimpy Menon’s bronze exhibits in October. Few blocks away from her, in the Lado Sari neighbourhood, Rasika Kajaria of Exhibit 320 is bringing in Princess Pea, an alter ego of the Delhi College of Art graduate who works under the moniker. The Delhi-based artist who first came into limelight at the 2009 India Art Fair, will be showcasing works based on Hans Christian’s fairytale The Ugly Duckling.

Artists from the subcontinent will also be visiting. Senior Sri Lankan artist Senaka Senanayake will be at Art Alive Gallery in March and Pakistani contemporary artist Mohammad Ali Talpur will exhibit at Latitude 28 in October. One can expect him to show his minimal linear drawings.

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Preoccupied with an exhibition of drawings to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Gallery Espace in November, Renu Modi’s first solo of the season will be Manjunath Kamath’s recent work in January. The same month will have Anju Dodiya exhibiting at Vadehra Art Gallery and a younger Dhanur Goyal at Gallery Ragini. The calendar already seems packed? Wait for more. Some announcements are yet to be come.

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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