The sweltering heat is going nowhere, and as is everyone’s plan of hunkering indoors. Where to find creative inspiration? You can always count on the new art shows in India. Art history fans can head to the KNMA in Saket till 18th May to view Caravaggio’s Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy, on display in India for the first time. Closer to the western shores, Mumbai’s Apre Art House presents The Music Makers, an exhibition featuring works by artists from the Mumbai Artists in Residency (MAIR) program, on view till 25th May, while Milaaya Art Gallery presents a tribute to S.H. Raza till 15th May. Here’s Vogue’s pick of other shows you should catch a glimpse of this month:
Nabha Sparsh – Indian Women Printmakers at NGMA, Mumbai
In the world of traditional art, printmaking isn’t as popular among audiences as canvas painting, but the work behind it is just as intricate and painstaking. A new show in the heart of Mumbai’s art district celebrates not just the world of printmaking—such as lithographs, etchings, aquatints, engravings and screen prints—but India’s best women printmakers as well. Nabha Sparsh, presented in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, features creations by 150 female artists from across the country, highlighting not just the evolution of printmaking in India but the diversity and innovation of some of India’s finest artists.
On view at National Gallery of Modern Art, MG Road, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai until 25th May 2025
PANG by Nicola Durvasula at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, New Delhi
The onomatopoeic word ‘pang’ denotes a yearning for something, immediately making you think of being jolted or shocked out of the blue. British artist Nicola Durvasula, who spent 10 years teaching art in Hyderabad, presents in Mumbai a showcase of works in diverse media, including fascinating graphic notations. These are a type of score that uses marks, abstract symbols or text to suggest different sequences of sound, and Durvasula’s creations are reminiscent of her figurative paintings, also part of this unique exhibition, which have even been interpreted by several musicians.
On view at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, 1st floor, C.R.Tower, D-58, Defence Colony, New Delhi until 17th May 2025
The Weight of Love by Varad Bang at Gallery Pristine Contemporary, New Delhi
Indian artist Varad Bang studied in the artistic haven of Florence, Italy, where he was exposed to the majestic works and techniques of Rembrandt, Sargent and Velázquez as well as impressionists Manet and Monet. These influences find a place in his own canvases, the latest series of which pay tribute to legendary filmmaker Wong Kai-Wai’s In the Mood for Love. Inspired by the seminal film, Bang’s canvases explore themes of love, longing and the unspoken emotions humans experience. Through his vividly evocative canvases, Bang invites viewers to experience love in all its glory, visually showcasing to them the weight that this emotion carries for all.
On view at Gallery Pristine Contemporary, A-178, C3 Ground Floor, Saini Bhavan, Bhishma Pitamah Marg, New Delhi until 11th May 2025
Pillars of Fruit and Bone by Rithika Merchant at TARQ, Mumbai
An amalgamation of mythology, speculative fiction and science, Rithika Merchant’s artistic practice features imagined creatures and worlds with heavy symbolism. Her latest body of work, too, is a series of 15 paintings that explore ideas of a utopian land rooted in sustainability, far away from the earth we currently inhabit. Merchant believes that the creation of these works is an act of self-soothing to allay the climate anxiety that she, like so many others, faces in today’s world. Explains London-based art historian Dr. Cleo Roberts-Komireddi about this new series that contemplates the relationship between sustainability and growth: “In Merchant’s symbolically rich images, she elides diverse cosmological references and ecosystems to give an impression of what life may look like in future worlds.”
On view at TARQ, KK (Navsari) Chambers, Ground Floor, 39 AK Nayak Marg, Fort, Mumbai until 31st May 2025
Jyoti Bhatt: Through the Line & Lens at Latitude 28, New Delhi
There are but a few nonagenarians who are still actively working in their fields, with illustrious painter, printmaker and educator Jyoti Bhatt being one of them. A new retrospective show in the capital, curated by celebrated artist Rekha Rodwittiya, delves into the printmaking era of Bhatt’s long creative life, showcasing etchings, lithographs, serigraphs, photographs and personal writings by the artist. Also including photographs from his Living Traditions of India series that captured on camera the country’s age-old traditions and rituals from the remotest corners of the country, this deep dive into Bhatt’s journey gives audiences a chance to engage with seven decades of a creative legacy.
On view at Latitude 28, 1st Floor, F-208, Lado Sarai, New Delhi until 28th May 2025
The Geometry of Ordinary Lives by Prasanta Sahu at Emami Art, Kolkata
Born in Odisha and educated—and currently teaching art—in Santiniketan, artist Prasanta Sahu has spent several years intersecting his art with research and studying people’s lived experiences. His latest solo show takes a closer look at the lives of craftsmen like potters, blacksmiths and carpenters, whose expertise and artistry are passed down through oral traditions. Featuring artworks made using diverse media, Sahu ‘explores the subtleties of rural and suburban life through traditional knowledge, pre-industrial practices and inherited wisdom,’ as the note on the show says.
On view at Emami Art, 777, opp. Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, Adarsha Nagar, Kolkata until 21st June 2025
Enlightenment from an Unlikely Envelope – The Archives of Adil Jussawalla at The Guild, Alibaug
Most bibliophiles know him as an ace poet, and some, as a magazine editor too. But few know that Sahitya Akademi Awardee Adil Jussawalla has also been fascinated by a life behind the lens, at one point carrying his camera with him almost everywhere he went. A new exhibition in Alibaug, curated by Deeptha Achar and Chithra K. S. features a selection of Jussawalla’s collection of texts, manuscripts, scrapbooks, notes, lists, photographs, books, newspaper clippings, poems and plants that shaped the multihyphenate’s life and influenced his photographic practice. The delightful showcase also aims to explore the link between his photography and his writing, as well as how it reflected Bombay’s artistic landscape of the ’70s. This one’s unmissable for all fans of literature and photography alike.
On view at The Guild, 1028, Ranjanpada, Next to Sai Temple, Mandwa-Alibaug Road, Alibaug from 3rd May to 29th June 2025
Subliminal by S Harsha Vardhana at Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
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A self-taught artist who gave up a career as a bioscientist to pursue his talent and love for painting, S Harsha Vardhana is best known for his work in abstraction and experimentation with colour and form. His latest solo show in the capital which presents a series of recent works includes paintings that invite the viewer to explore the art of quietude, as they take in the triangular forms that are recurrent throughout his creations. “The interplay of colours and forms in S Harsha Vardhana’s recent body of work is a reflection of the reassertion and primacy of colours that does not adhere to the constraints of time,” explains cultural critic Ashok Vajpeyi about the exhibited artworks.
On view at Art Alive Gallery, S-221 Panchsheel Park, New Delhi until 20th May 2025
A Deep Breadth by Vivan Sundaram at Akara Modern, Mumbai
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As an artist, activist and India’s first installation artist, Vivan Sundaram’s influence on India’s cultural landscape is unforgettable. A new show in Mumbai focuses on Sundaram’s work as a painter, with his canvases without human presence that hit just as hard as any other. Featuring paintings, drawings and collages created between the 1960s to the early 2000s, A Deep Breadth showcases the maestro’s blending of motifs both indigenous and modern, his metaphorical images, use of material like charcoal, and adoption of engine oil as an artistic medium as well. This significant retrospective promises a great insight into a small part of an artist par excellence’s work and influences.
On view at Akara Modern, 4/5 Churchill Chambers, 32 Mereweather Road, Colaba, Mumbai until 17th May 2025
Bambai Se Aaya Mera Dost at Method, New Delhi
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The title of this show alludes to the famous song from the ’70s movie Aap Ki Khatir. Inspired by the iconic ode to ‘Bambai’, a group show in Delhi brings together works by galleries from Mumbai in a celebration of friendship and community. Featuring works from some of the cultural hub’s best galleries including Chatterjee & Lal, Chemould Prescott Road, Gallery Maskara, Sakshi Gallery, Tao Art Gallery, TARQ and Method’s Mumbai space, the exhibition brings the “spirit and dynamism” of Mumbai’s art world to Delhi’s audiences, making for a joyous collaboration.
On view at Method, Underground, D-59, D Block, Defence Colony, New Delhi until 18th May 2025
Also read:
12 new art shows in India we’re excited about this April
A Caravaggio painting that had been lost for centuries is coming to India for the first time
Is India Art Fair Contemporary proof that Mumbai is finally earning a reputation as an art hub?
