(An excerpt from)
Harper's Bazaar INDIA, March 2014
Four international, trend-setting art
curators and consultants are spearheading a movement to show Indian art in a
new light
By Georgina Maddox
Director, Payal Arts International
Helming her
eponymous art consultancy in New York that is dedicated to advising enthusiasts
and promoting Indian talent in the US, Payal Parekh has introduced works by
Raghubir Singh, Vivan Sundaram, and Atul Bhalla at international fairs like
Paris Photo, and Association of International Photography Art Dealers Show.
Focused on discovering young, experimental artists and established women
artists whose oeuvre display a sense of the unusual, Parekh has also sold works
of legendary American lensman Robert Frank and Brazilian artist-photographer
Vik Muniz. “I believe that Indian photography is still an untapped gem, and as
an independent art advisor, one of my main goals is to create a dialogue
between India and New York. As a woman, it is also important to me to place
emphasis on the achievements of women artists,” says the 35-year-old art
consultant. Parekh, who started her dealings in Indian art with Indian
photography for the New York-based art consultancy Sepia Eye in 2008, grew up
in Baltimore, Maryland, where her mother is a painter and her parents collected
antiques and objets d’art. “I spent my entire childhood living with things that
were precious and beautiful. Our home was filled with antique furniture and
paintings by Jatin Das and Indian miniatures,” says Parekh, who now lives on
57th street in New York City, where dealers such as Pierre Matisse and
Peggy Guggenheim established their galleries. Talking about the explosion of
Indian artists on the international biennial circuit, Parekh believes there is
room for improvement. “I hope to develop a broader understanding of the context
in which India plays a vital role in contemporary art by working with younger
artists.” Parekh is currently advising Nandita Raman, a promising Indian photographer
based in Brooklyn (Raman’s works are in the collection of the Snite Museum of
Art, Indiana), and in the past she has supported New York-based artist Ajay
Kurian, who uses electromagnets, ostrich eggs, and gobstopper candy in his
works—Kurian debuted with a solo show in September 2013 at Mumbai’s Jhaveri
Contemporary. This year, Parekh has her hands full with a historical project
that she is putting together in Kolkata. It showcases the modern nation of
India, circa 1940 to 1970, and features photographer Jayant Patel’s work that
captured decisive moments involving dignitaries such as Mahatma Gandhi, British
governor of Bengal, Lord Casey, and Jawaharlal Nehru.
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