60 artists, 100 artworks: Monalisa Kalagram showcases Contemporary Signatures 4.0 exhibition
In this photo essay from Koregaon Park in Pune, we showcase a range of artworks and curator insights from the Monalisa Kalagram gallery.
Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 855 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
Located in the Koregaon Park neighbourhood, Monalisa Kalagram is one of Pune’s leading hubs for contemporary art. See our coverage of earlier exhibitions at the gallery from 2021 onwards here.
“We launched Contemporary Signatures 4.0 this year, encouraged by the overwhelming response received by the last three editions of this exhibition. We had a curation of over 60 artists again this year,” Lisa Pingale, founder and owner of Monalisa Kalagram, tells YourStory.
The exhibition was curated by Sapna Kar and Rajneeta Kewalramani, co-founders of the aptly-named art platform, TheCurators.art. It offers a unique collection of artworks by renowned and promising Indian artists.
“It was a pleasure to partner with TheCurators.art in this mega show for a fourth year running,” Pingale adds. The exhibited artworks are priced from Rs 90,000 to Rs 9 lakh.
Lisa and her mother Mona Pingale are co-founders of the Monalisa Kalagram gallery. It regularly features art exhibitions, book readings, workshops, and film screenings.
The artist lineup for Contemporary Signatures included Abhay Sehgal, Douglas John, Kamar Alam, Vinod Daroz, Madan Meena, Meenakshi Jha Banerjee, Nagesh Goud, Senaka Senanayake, Shuvankar Maitra, Nidhi Shekhawat, Nishant Dange, Prityaanshi Agarwal, and others.
The gallery kicked off 2025 with the exhibition Merging Clay, with ceramic works by 18 Indian artists. It showcased the outcome of their three-month residency at the Wangou Taoxichuan Art Center, Longquan, China.
The artworks reflected a dialogue between India and China’s distinct yet interconnected artistic traditions. Featured artists included Nidhi Chopra, Vinod Daroz, Payal Garai, Revati Jayakrishnan, Jasmi Paladiya, Kopal Seth, Veena Singh, Panthini Thaker, and others.
Another earlier exhibition was titled Chiaroscuro – Black & White Abstractions. It featured the works of 40 artists, including Aditya Shirke, Deepti Munot, Jayant Joshi, Pankaj Jha, Prashant Dhadve, Rajendra Ghosalkar, Santosh Shirsath, Smita Kinkale, and Yogesh Patil.
“Black and white creates a strange dreamscape that colour never can. But life is not black and white; there are multiple grey nuances to it,” curator Jayant Joshi explains.
There is much symbolism associated with the dualism of black and white. “They are different and distinct yet one cannot exist without the other. They depict opposites, good and evil, light and dark, truth and untruth,” he adds.
There was a unique mix of masters and emerging artists at the Contemporary Signatures 4.0 exhibition as well. “There were so many new names that the city had an opportunity to experience for the first time. This was an unmissable show,” Pingale enthuses.
This year’s show had a special section on ‘Wall Tapestries’ that showcased large, limited-edition wall tapestries by legendary names of the Indian art world. They included Satish Gujral, SH Raza, Krishen Khanna, Paresh Maity, Jayasri Burman, and Senaka Senanayake.
“We are a passionate art initiative, with the objective of helping young collectors build collections that stand the test of time,” Sapna Kar of TheCurators.art explains. The co-founders have worked in the art industry for over 15 years.
Their repertoire includes traditional Indian art such as phad, pattachitra, kalamkari, gond, and pichwai. “It is our belief that when one spots talent and offers them the right visibility and positioning, it can create a career path for their futures,” Kewalramani signs off.
Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?
(All photographs were taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at Monalisa Kalagram.)