Tag: artist

Several women appear in Arpita Singh’s 1989 painting Munna apa’s garden. One, middle-aged, waters her flowers, while another on the right watches on through floral curtains. Through a window in the center-top of the painting, a woman appears bare-chested. These figures, windows, and flowers appear in canvases throughout Singh’s career. “I always paint the things I see and experience every day,” the artist said in an interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries, for the show’s catalogue. “They’re almost the same every day.”

“Remembering,” at the Serpentine North, is Arpita Singh’s first institutional solo exhibition outside India. The exhibition surveys a 60-year career with an emphasis on Singh’s unique approach to figuration and world-building. While Singh is one of the best-known painters in India, international recognition has been slower to arrive. The Serpentine show comes on the heels of important recent shows of Indian art in the U.K., such as the widely praised 2024 exhibition “Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998” at the Barbican Centre, which showed works by Singh in the context of close Indian peers and collaborators such as Nilima Sheikh, Nalini Malani, and Madhvi Parekh.

In this new solo show, the singularity of Singh’s career comes into focus. With a total commitment to finding a language for her personal life, she uniquely reinterprets Indian folk and modernist traditions alongside Western Surrealism, inspiring, as Obrist said in an interview with Artsy, “five generations of Indian contemporary artists.”

Singh’s large oil paintings, in which figures navigate their domestic, urban, and political everyday realities, hang along the perimeter of the Serpentine gallery, following the artist’s practice chronologically. Two inner chambers in the exhibition house more intimate works in watercolor and ink, including early abstract drawings, etchings, and a set of 12 zodiac-inspired works—hints of the spiritual and mythical dimensions that guide the artist’s sense of her “everyday.”

In place of traditional interpretive texts, personal reflections—including contributions from curators, critics, longstanding friends of the artist such as Sheikh, and authors such as Devika Singh, Geeta Kapoor, and Geetanjali Shree—accompany the works, providing a sense of interpersonal context for Singh’s life.

Singh’s maplike paintings

Singh’s oeuvre, Obrist explained, takes the form of an atlas. “There is something to see in every centimeter. She pastes together a world,” he said. Singh’s dense, pictorial planes are often flat, with figures arranged in a space without gravity. This technique is similar to South Asian miniature painting traditions—an important inspiration for Singh.

This “bird’s-eye view” approach also recalls the visual language of maps. In My Lollipop City: Gemini Rising (2005), figures resembling bureaucrats stand on a political map of New Delhi, complete with the city’s road names, landmarks, and monuments. The top of the painting shows a sky with crisscrossing planes, annotated with the names of constellations. Here, Singh systematically builds her personal world, where there may not be gravity but, she told Obrist, there is still “a law, but a law according to me.” Her laws aren’t too rigid, however: As Singh notes in the bottom-right corner of the work, “THE MAP IS FAULTY DO NOT FOLLOW IT.”

Other works are also filled with cartographic references. In one of the artist’s best known works, My Mother (1993), a road runs diagonally across the canvas, separating neighboring territories. Cars, bicycles, chairs, soldiers, women in bikinis, and crosses crowd one section, while the other is filled with a half-length portrait of her solid, scowling mother.

Singh’s reference to the map and its sometimes noisy motifs nod to the geopolitical currents that set the stage for her painterly world. The artist was born in West Bengal in 1937, and saw India through its independence and violent partition from Pakistan in 1947, then a state of emergency in 1975, and its economic liberalization through the 1990s. Contemporary political tensions are a constant part of her life, even if they do not confine her practice. In a 2024 interview with Tamsin Hong, curator of the Serpentine exhibition, Singh said, “I read the newspaper…everyday.”

Indian artists in the world

Singh went to art school on the advice of her high school principal, without even realizing it was a field of study at the time. After graduating with a diploma in fine arts from Delhi Polytechnic in 1959, Singh went on to work as a textile designer at the Weaver’s Service Centre, a postcolonial institution that appears in the biographies of many of India’s most important artists, including Prabhakar Barwe and Monika Correa. By the time Singh began living and working in New Delhi as a painter, she had already encountered many of her lifelong inspirations—Bengali poetry, Western Surrealist art, and Indian narrative folk traditions such as pattachitra and kantha embroidery.

The first conversations for “Remembering” began in the artist’s studio in New Delhi more than 15 years ago, when Obrist first met Singh while researching the Serpentine’s survey of Indian art, “Indian Highway.” The 2008 exhibition was called an “unprecedented spectacle” by The Guardian for its role in introducing many in the U.K. to Indian modern masters, such as M.F. Husain, and those who have since exploded in the international scene, such as Shilpa Gupta.

The market for Indian modern and contemporary art seems to have grown in parallel to institutional attention, with galleries, art fairs, and auction houses reporting consistent success and expansion over the past few years. The same week “Remembering” opened in London, Sotheby’s New York made record sales for a number of Indian modern and contemporary artists. Meanwhile, Christie’s recorded the top auction price ever paid for an Indian modern artist, selling a large, 13-panel M.F. Husain painting for $13.75 million (including fees).

“Galleries, collectors, curators, and institutions have all been working hard and collaborating to bolster the Indian art scene and this has paid off,” said Roshini Vadehra, Singh’s New Delhi gallerist and key collaborator for “Remembering.” Vadehra is a member of this robustly international South Asian art world, and her roster has been on view in London through presentations at No. 9 Cork Street and in institutional exhibitions such as “The Imaginary Institution of India” at the Barbican and the upcoming “A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle” at the Royal Academy of Arts.

“Many Indian artists bring something unique,” she said, noting the rising popularity of Indian art internationally. She put this down to “a blend of historical traditions and contemporary relevance that speaks to global concerns: identity, politics, gender, and social transformation, for example.”

Arpita Singh’s feminine figures

An ambiguous feminine figure is often the protagonist of Singh’s paintings. Sometimes, she stands in for a real woman. For example, in her interview with Hong for the exhibition, Singh recounted her mother greeting her nephew at the door in exactly the same manner as the figure in My Mother.

Elsewhere, feminine figures stand in for women more generally. Devi Pistol Wali (1990) reimagines Kali, the Hindu goddess of vengeance and destruction, as an unassuming, contemporary Indian woman in widow’s whites standing atop a prostrate man. Her four hands hold, respectively, a mango, a vase with trailing flowers, the titular pistol, and her own pallu (the part of the sari covering her head). The vehicles common in Singh’s paintings surround her, alongside turtles, more flowers, and other humanoid figures. The symbolic figure of the goddess is replaced with the varied life of a contemporary woman, as told through the mundane objects that surround her, rendered in thick, layered paint.

The mythological woman is invoked in many of Singh’s works. In Searching Sita through Torn Papers, Paper Strips and Labels (2015), the figure of Sita, an icon of chastity, purity, and martyrdom in the Hindu epic the Ramayana, is only present in the title of the work and appears to have disappeared from the canvas. Words such as “MISSING,” “TRAPPED,” and “SLANDERED” take her place, painted to seem as if collaged from newspaper clippings. The work marks Singh’s engagement with rising concerns for violence against women in India at the time. As the individual meaningful words are subsumed in a dense roar of letters across the canvas, Searching Sita hints at Singh’s conception of her work as a quest, seeking something elusive.

“Painting is always fascinating,” said Singh, when asked why she keeps at it. “I saw a very small child make a painting with red, and she was painting the red colour again and again. I said, ‘Why are you doing it again and again?’ She said, ‘It’s not red enough.’ It’s like that for me too.”

A new monograph brings the artist’s life into focus as she returns to the same subjects again and again: the women in her family, the British Museum, and the sea.

The world of printmaking is a nuanced and exciting facet of the art industry that offers accessible entry points for new buyers and meaningful ways for seasoned patrons to expand their collections. Simply explained, prints are artworks that have been created by transferring an image from one surface to another, such as from a metal plate or sheet of plastic to a piece of paper.

A printing press is often used to apply pressure between the two surfaces, aiding in the transfer of the image. Prints can also be made by creating a design on a screen through which ink is pushed so that only specific parts can be penetrated. Often—though not always—prints are more affordable than other disciplines by the same artist and can be easier to access.

Indeed, such is the appeal of the medium that dedicated print fairs are commonplace across the art world. March, for instance, sees several such fairs in New York, London, and Paris: London Original Print Fair, the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) Print Fair in New York, and the Paris Print Fair are among the key events putting a spotlight on the dynamic world of prints, as well as the common questions that come with collecting them.

From technical terms to recurring misconceptions, here are five things to know about collecting prints.

Don’t be intimidated by the lingo

“Printmaking terminology, such as lithographs, etchings, and intaglio, can seem intimidating, but prints are actually one of the most accessible ways to start collecting art,” said Helen Rosslyn, director of London Original Print Fair. In 2018, Rosslyn wrote the book A Buyer’s Guide to Prints to advise readers on everything from how to start a collection to artwork care.

Gaining insight into the nuances of printmaking helps demystify the process of collecting. “The vocabulary is just a hump to get over as the basics of printmaking are not impossibly complicated nor are they unfamiliar,” said Andrew Witkin, owner of Boston’s Krakow Witkin Gallery. “I can’t count how many times I have described the similarities between the stains of a tomato in a wooden cutting board being related to how an etching is printed.”

In addition to the different processes, the terminology surrounding impression numbers and edition sizes can seem complicated. Individual prints in an edition are given a number, called the impression. Many editions have extra impressions that might be labeled terms like AP (artist’s proof) or PP (printer’s proof). Artists create APs to keep for their own collections or give as gifts or donations, and PPs ensure printers receive artwork as well. These are as valuable as the numbered edition and can often come to the market.

“One major myth is the belief that copy 1 (or low numbers) in an edition is the most valuable; this is patently untrue in contemporary prints and there is no quality hierarchy as to how an edition is numbered,” said David Cleaton-Roberts, co-director of London’s Cristea Roberts Gallery.

Rather than focus on the impression number, experts suggest considering the edition size itself. “Generally, the smaller the edition, the more sought-after the print,” Rosslyn noted.

Prints are original artworks

The most common misguided viewpoint of prints is that they are copies of other works. Such objects do exist, such as posters or large editions sold in museum stores, and some artists might make reproductions for fundraising. However, it’s important to note that original prints are not copies.

“An original print—a work of art using some print process or processes—is when the artist used the print medium to make something new,” said Witkin. “It just happens to be made in multiplicity, so there’s more than one of the ‘same thing.’”

When collectors say they only collect “original” works—implying that prints are not original—what they are actually referring to is unique works, meaning only one was made (such as paintings).

But, as Cleaton-Roberts noted, “prints don’t have to be in editions.” Works that are made in editions are identical or similar variations of an artwork and can be in a range of mediums, including prints, sculptures, and photography. Some prints are unique, like monoprints, and some artists might hand-embellish an edition, making each work different.

Different prints involve different processes—and prices reflect this

Nachtfahrt, 2009
Christiane Baumgartner

Galerie Boisseree

Creating prints is involved and time-consuming, requiring specialized training and tools, such as costly printing presses. “Prints can take several months and sometimes years to complete; for some artists, the medium may require a different focus and pace compared to working in another medium and can be more complex than painting,” said Cleaton-Roberts. “Some artists focus on the medium alone, undertaking major projects, such as Christiane Baumgartner, who can take several months to carve one woodblock before editioning prints in her Leipzig studio.”

Different types of prints require different tools and methods, and the complexity of production can be reflected in the price. Julie Mehretu, for example, creates etchings with several colors that entire teams of printmakers work on in tandem to create identical prints. Such an edition requires multiple applications of ink and runs through a press. Prices for these can soar into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, while Mehretu’s smaller prints with fewer colors start at a few thousand. Prices of any edition might rise as they sell out and availability becomes scarcer.

Prints that were not made in an edition can command prices as high as any other unique work. “The most expensive 20th-century artwork ever [auctioned] is Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964), for $195 million—a silkscreen on linen,” Cleaton-Roberts said.

Prints are an ideal way to expand your collection and explore different sides of an artist’s practice

Modern Magic III, 2021
Yinka Shonibare

Cristea Roberts Gallery

Modern Magic (in Pink), 2022
Yinka Shonibare

Cristea Roberts Gallery

Of course, not all prints come with Warhol’s price tag. “By focusing on editioned works, we can afford pieces from our favorite artists that would be otherwise out of our range,” said Ben Maddox, who has been collecting prints, as well as paintings and sculptures, with Jan Siegmund for over 20 years. Their collection includes works by Kara Walker and Mickalene Thomas, both of whom make prints starting at a few thousand dollars—a fraction of the cost of something like a painting.

Beyond a lower price, prints allow collectors to explore different facets of an artist’s practice. “Printing techniques are endlessly intriguing with their intricate details and unique qualities,” said Maddox and Siegmund. “Each medium offers a different perspective and adds depth to our collection.”

There are also artists who combine methods of printmaking with disciplines like painting and drawing. Yinka Shonibare, for example, incorporates collage into his prints, pushing the boundaries of the materials to create pieces they might not have otherwise been able to achieve.

“If the medium supports or is embedded in the reason for the work to exist, then that medium is important for that work and for that artist,” said Witkin. “If it happens to be a print, then that’s wonderful!”

Know the trusted galleries and publishers

Print publishers play a crucial role in making artists’ visions come to fruition. Storied and skilled printmakers, such as Gemini G.E.L., Two Palms, and Mixografia can raise the profile of editions and ensure they were expertly made.

For collectors, establishing relationships with dealers and printmakers can help with initial education and guide their purchases. “Long-standing relationships to a set of galleries and publishers have been incredibly helpful to establish the current focus of our collection,” said Maddox and Siegmund. “Let your personal taste guide you, [but] don’t be afraid to learn from galleries, dealers, and fellow collectors.”

With the range of fairs devoted to prints, collectors can easily access this community of experts. “A fair is a fantastic place to start because you get to see a huge range of styles under one roof,” said Rosslyn. “Exhibitors love talking about prints, so take advantage of their knowledge.”

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