Society
Going Galleryspotting
A guide to the personalities you’ll encounter in India’s art world.
written by
The Swaddle Teampublished
Nov 15, 2024
Image Credit: Hitesh Sonar For The Swaddle
It's Art Mumbai week, and the art people have descended. Here's what you'll probably overhear at any of the events, one way or another.
They've flown in from Berlin for a hot minute and want to “be in the scene” to “support Emerging Artists” before they’re “discovered by the Gagosians of the world.” Also has a Gagosian-esque collection themselves. They're secretly judged by everyone else.
They really like sculptures of stainless steel and PVC pipes. It's corporeal. You should pretend to like them too, if you want to convince them you're in the scene.
He hates the fact that everyone knows Raza now. But he's in the market for a contemporary version of bindu by an “Emerging Artist” as advised by his daughter’s “fine art sensibilities.”
They're going to make sustained eye contact with you while they perform, and somehow make you contemplate everything you've ever done wrong.
They hope that their affected indifference is charming to the curator and the veteran. Only the enthusiast from Berlin falls for it.
They believe their textile cum sculpture cum painting artist is truly going to create a paradigm shift in the Art World. But they also have a few Tyeb Mehta pieces in their dossier just in case…
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