Gallery Espace celebrates 35 years with multiple exhibitions

In the 35 years since its inception, Gallery Espace in Delhi has become a veritable institution in the arts space through its promotion of Indian contemporary art.

- NOOR ANAND CHAWLA

Hence, the celebrations for achieving this milestone are bound to be grand, with four different exhibitions being organised over the winter season. Founded by Renu Modi in 1989, the focus of this gallery has always been on promoting emerging and well-established artists in the contemporary sphere.

Over the years, they have organised many exhibitions of note. In the 1990s, there was Drawing ’94, Sculpture ’95, Miniprint ’96, and ‘The Self and The World’ (1997), which brought together 16 Indian women artists from Amrita Sher-Gil to Anjolie Ela Menon. In later years, the gallery began promoting fresh talent and experimental art practices with exhibitions like ‘Kitsch Kitsch Hota Hai’ (2001), an exposition of pop and kitsch in contemporary art; ‘Leela’ (2003), which grew out of a residency featuring Bhupen Khakar, Amit Ambalal, Atul and Anju Dodiya in Haridwar; ‘Lo Real Maravilloso’ (2009), an overview of magic realism in art, and two editions of ‘Video Wednesday’ (200809 and 2011-12), dedicated to video art. Other important shows at the gallery were ‘A Cry from the Narrow Between’ (2010) – a two person show of Tejal Shah and Han Bing, contemporary artists from India and China, respectively; ‘Drawing Show’ (2014), ‘Diary Entries’ [2016], and the India-Sri Lanka project ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ (2016).

They also broke ground by being one of few galleries to showcase international art, namely Alberto Cavazos, the ‘Picasso of Mexico’ in 1992; Parvaneh Etemadi, the acclaimed Iranian artist in 1995; Talha Rathore from Pakistan in 1998; and Sri Lankan artists Jagath Weerasinghe, Anura Krishantha and Pala Pothupitiye, who were part of a 2012 exhibition titled ‘Narrative of Resistance’ that reflected upon a country devastated by war.