Art is not always something you stand quietly in front of. Sometimes, it spills into a cafe conversation, a studio visit, or even an entire city. This August, Chennai becomes a large gallery as Contemporary Now returns for its third edition, transforming museums, galleries, and cultural spaces, inviting visitors to wander, question, linger, and discover not just art, but the city itself.The third edition brings together 66 artists from seven leading galleries, complemented by a city-wide programme of exhibitions, discussions, artist walkthroughs and workshops.
Artwork by Saju Kunhan
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Running from August 8 to 25, Contemporary Now will be anchored at the Lalit Kala Akademi, with a series of partner programmes unfolding across Chennai. Work will be presented by seven leading galleries — Ashvita’s, Chemould Prescott Road, Chatterjee & Lal, Experimenter, Project 88, TARQ and Vadehra Art Gallery. This year’s edition is centred on the curatorial theme Practices in Continuum: Tracing the Present, exploring how contemporary artistic practices evolve through research, experimentation and dialogue. Serving as the main hub of Contemporary Now, Lalit Kala Akademi brings together works ranging from charcoal on fabric to recycled teak wood, hand-spun textiles, digital video, and photography; the exhibition showcases artists working across a range of materials and mediums. Among the highlights are works by Anju Dodiya, Jitish Kallat, Mithu Sen, Nikhil Chopra, Raghava KK, Thukral and Tagra, Manas Udayakumar and more, each bringing their own visual vocabulary to a show that invites viewers to slow down, look closely and engage with their stories.Ashvita’s on Radha Krishnan Salai hosts Continuiverse by C Krishnaswamy, inviting viewers to reflect on our relationship with land, memory, and community through a series of sculptures. The show draws inspiration from the Ayyanar tradition of southern India where clay was shaped into guardian figures. Meanwhile, at Ashvita’s Flagship, the gallery’s new Chennai space, Benitha K Perciyal presents How Long Will We Live? Or When Will We Die? — an exhibition that pairs her artworks with the books, research, and objects that have shaped her artistic practice and way of seeing. Collectors choice“Contemporary Now is built around the collector. Buying art isn’t an impulse purchase; you’re asking someone to invest anywhere between ₹5 lakh and ₹15 lakh in a work. So our job is to give them confidence. We have brought together the best galleries and artists, and every artwork sold through Contemporary Now comes with a year of art insurance, along with digital authentication and registration. We want collecting art to feel as secure and transparent as any other serious investment,” says Ashvin E Rajagopalan, director, Ashvita’s and Contemporary Now.
