Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) The country’s art fraternity will be treated to a visual feast of top modern and contemporary art from across the world in January 2011 with 34 leading international galleries offering their bouquets at the third edition of the India Art Summit here.

Announcing the fair Tuesday, the organisers of the summit said 84 galleries - including 34 international ones - will be exhibiting art in the fair Jan 21-23, 2011 at Pragati Maidan here.

The summit, earlier slated for July 2010, was postponed by six months to January 2011.

It will host galleries from 20 countries including Canada, France, Germany, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UAE, Britain, US and Australia.

The list of international galleries features niche art houses like Lisson Gallery (London), Sundaram Tagore Gallery (Hong Kong), Galerie Kashya Hildebrand (Zurich), Aicon Gallery (New York), Grosvenor Gallery (London), Thomas Erben Gallery (New York), Galerie Frank Elbaz (Paris), Die Galerie (Frankfurt), The Drawing Room (Makati City, Philippines), Greenaway Gallery (Adelaide) and several more.

The final shortlist of 84 galleries was chosen by the selection committee from a pool of over 150 applicants from India and around the world, the organisers said.

“We are pleased with the quality of galleries that have been selected and the breadth of modern and contemporary Art that will be presented at the upcoming fair,” said Neha Kirpal, director of the India Art Summit.

The 2011 fair will be spread across approximately 8,000 square metres of exhibition space, nearly double that of the 2009 summit. The total number of galleries has increased by 55 percent from the previous edition.

Returning for the third edition of the fair, Michelle D’Souza, director of the Lisson Gallery, said: “We are thrilled to be back and privileged to play a role in the internationalisation of the Indian art world.”

Kirpal said: “With leading Indian galleries coming together again for the third year, the art summit continues to build on its position as the country’s premier art fair platform of modern and contemporary art.”

“India has never seen this selection of art and galleries come together from around the world. I am excited to see that our country’s art fair is shaping to be of truly international standard,” said Shireen Gandhy, director of the Mumbai-based Chemould Prescott Gallery.

The latest edition of the summit will see greater curatorial focus in the gallery booths with “strong group shows in the general exhibition section and individual artist displays in the new solo projects section of the fair”, the organisers said.

An extended Sculpture Park surrounding the venue and dedicated spaces for video and performance art will give the galleries wider stage to present an array of art practices and mediums, Kirpal said.

The top Indian galleries that will take part in the fair include Apparao Gallery (Chennai), Art Alive (New Delhi), Art Gallery 88 (Kolkata), Birla Academy of Art & Culture (Kolkata), Chatterjee & Lal (Mumbai), Chemould Prescott (Mumbai), CIMA Gallery Pvt Ltd (Kolkata), Experimenter (Kolkata), Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke (Mumbai) and Nature Morte (New Delhi) amongst others.