Fabric, fairs, and young talent: Art trends that dominated India in 2024
From immersive art installations to increased gallery openings, and renewed interest in artists old and new, 2024 was a successful year for the art industry in India. We take a look at some of the trends that dominated this space.
After a period of slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2024 turned out to be a good year for the Indian art industry, with a resurgence in interest in works created by both legendary artists and emerging talent.
What’s more, several prominent art fairs like the annual India Art Fair and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale witnessed high footfalls, reinforcing the increasing demand for such events.
There were also new formats like the hotel art fair Artix (now in its third edition) that brought together celebrated and promising names under the same roof.
That's not all. 2024 was also a year when creativity reached its crescendo, with artists old and young pushing their boundaries to experiment with concepts never seen before.
YS Life spoke to a few prominent artists to share their insights on what defined the art space in India in 2024.
Immersive and interactive experiences
In 2024, the art world continued its fascination with immersive and interactive experiences that challenge perceptions and foster deeper connections, says acclaimed visual artist Tejal Patni.
“From Olafur Eliasson’s climate-focused installations to Yayoi Kusama’s infinity mirror rooms, artists are using multi-sensory environments to engage audiences emotionally and intellectually,” he tells YS Life.
Patni’s ‘Spot the Difference’, presented by Snowball Studio, joins the global art movement, reimagining familiar concepts to address societal issues.
“Like Tilda Swinton’s performance art at MoMA, where the boundary between art and audience dissolved, my installation at ART Mumbai creates a space for introspection and dialogue,” he adds.
These exhibits reflect a broader trend in 2024: art as a shared experience that transcends traditional gallery formats.
“Such works remind us that art in 2024 isn’t just about beauty—it’s about connection, conversation, and challenging the status quo,” says Patni.
Jwalant Mahadevwala, Co-founder of the architectural studio, andblack, believes installations today, including towering wooden lattices, ethereal aluminium shrines, and intricate paper cocoons, reflect the same ethos of going beyond traditional art.
“They are not merely objects or structures but rather experiential landscapes that provoke thought and interaction,” he adds.
The studio has created Vayu, a monumental art installation. Here, an art curtain reflects the studio’s philosophy of merging aesthetic appeal with functional design.
“Shaped by the interplay of wind and motion, Vayu captures the fluidity of wind frozen in time, echoing India’s ever-evolving landscapes,” says Mahadevwala.
“Using advanced tools like Grasshopper and Rhino, we combined over 4,000 handcrafted wooden pieces—each made using the traditional Channapatna lac-turnery craft—to construct an artwork that harmonises precision and artisanal expertise.”
Fascination for fabric
A new trend prevalent in 2024 across art fairs in India and the world was the use of fabric as a medium to represent identity.
“The world is becoming more and more global and immigration is a constant phenomenon. In such cases, cultural identities are getting blurred. I see a lot of artists from Asia or Africa who've migrated to western parts of the world talk about this,” Uday Jain, Director of the contemporary Dhoomimal Gallery, Delhi tells YS Life.
When immigration is discussed, the first thought is to carry clothes. Hence, fabric acts as a strong medium of expression. “Embroidery and textile have also been used extensively,” he adds.
Increased opportunities for collaboration
In 2024, art fairs and events became more frequent not just in urban centres like Mumbai and Delhi, but also in smaller towns like Calicut, Rajasthan and Chandigarh, points out Georgina Maddox, an independent critic-curator and art historian.
Artist Jai Khanna, who is known for his spiritual streak in paintings, highlights that 2024 had many more new shows and gallery openings across the year.
“Even the period between March and July, which is generally slow, was good this time with lots of display opportunities and sales,” he shares.
Moreover, new avenues to display art like the hotel fair, Artix or a design fair like India Design ID were welcomed by collectors.
That's not all. The trend of artists collaborating with designers continued. However, Khanna says, it has become more comprehensive than before, with the artist and designer coming together to deepen the narrative.
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Best of artists, old and new
According to Maddox, many artists who were less active in the art scene over the past five to six years are now making a strong comeback, with large exhibitions and retrospectives.
“Artists like Santana and Ganesh Gohain are prime examples. We’ve also seen new work after a while from Anant Joshi, who has a big solo going on at Bikaner House. Pablo Bartholomew is also hosting exhibitions at Museo Camera (Gurugram) and at Sarala Birla Gallery,” she adds.
Khanna’s fresh take on Jainism was also appreciated among collectors, opening up opportunities for him, including participation in a museum show.
Digital art
In 2024, digital art also made its place felt, especially with big fairs like the India Art Fair batting for it alongside traditional art.
“The India Art Fair exhibition was digital with artists from all over the world exhibiting their works on screens. Seeing TV screens with digital motion art on them in a colonial period haveli was an inspiration, motivating us to accept art in all forms,” says Atul Khanna, Founder and Curator of Kathika Cultural Centre, Delhi.
With art increasingly being recognised as an asset class and India’s growing prominence on the global art stage (with significant appreciation in the last five years), the sector is turning into an investment avenue for many.
“This is similar to how Chinese art appreciated over the last 30 years. We are at the start of a similar bull run in Indian art,” concludes Vaishnavi Murali, Founder of Eikowa Art.
Edited by Megha Reddy