2019 Asia Arts Game Changer Awards India

Asia Arts Game Changer Awards India is a signature gala celebration honoring the Asia Arts Game Changers during the week of the India Art Fair in New Delhi. The Awards pay tribute to artists and arts professionals who have made a significant contribution to the development of modern and contemporary art in Asia and who inspire a deeper empathy and understanding of the world through their work. Major art collectors, artists, gallerists, dignitaries from the art world, and Asia Society trustees and patrons will gather to celebrate these individuals.

For more than twenty years, Asia Society has been a pioneer in identifying and fostering contemporary Asian artists, and engaging new audiences for their work. Past honorees include: Kochi Biennale Foundation, Benitha Perciyal, Abir Karmakar, Krishen Khanna, Arpita Singh, Sun Xun and teamLab.

The third edition of the Asia Arts Game Changer Awards India took place on February 1 2019, during India Art Fair at the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi. The spectacular evening, co-chaired by Pheroza Godrej and Sangita Jindal, began with a cocktail reception with live jazz by Jason Hammers and Pranai Gurung, followed by a formal dinner and award ceremony. Over 140 artists, academics, collectors, gallerists and curators gathered to celebrate the 2019 awardees Gulammohammed Sheikh, Yang Yongliang and Vibha Galhotra. Some of the notable attendees included Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel; eminent artists Vivan Sundaram, Arpita and Paramjit Singh, Atul and Anju Dodiya; and collectors Rajeeb and Nadia Samdani, Nissar and Amal Allana and Padma Vattikutti, among others.

Honorees

Akbar Padamsee - Asia Arts Vanguard Award (Special Felicitation in Mumbai)

Akbar Padamsee’s illustrious career includes accomplishments in painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and film. He studied at the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai and lived in France from 1951 to 1967 before returning to India. Padamsee’s interest in Sanskrit writing culminated in his signature series of abstract landscape paintings titled “metascapes” that he began in the 1970s. He has received the Padama Bhushan from the Government of India (2010) and Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (1965). His work has been exhibited at Asia Society Museum, New York (2018); National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (1991); Royal Academy of Arts, London (1982); São Paulo Biennale (1959); and Venice Biennale (1953 and 1955).

Gulammohammed Sheikh - Asia Arts Vanguard Award

Gulammohammed Sheikh is a painter, art historian, and writer who serves as Professor Emeritus of Art History and Painting at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Sheikh, who is influenced by the work of fifteenth century mystic poet Kabir, draws from literature in his paintings to pose questions regarding art and life. His work combines diverse painting traditions, including Sienese and Mughal art, with personal photographs and images from mass media to construct a narrative that juxtaposes political events, news stories, and everyday life. Sheikh has participated in major exhibitions including at Asia Society Museum, New York (2005); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (1985); and National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (1971, 1993, and 1999).

Vibha Galhotra - Asia Arts Future Award

Vibha Galhotra is best known for her large-scale, research-based projects that confront the evolution of physical and cultural geographies due to globalization and nation-building. Galhotra is a recipient of the Asian Cultural Council fellowship (2017), The Rockefeller Foundation grant (2016), and the Fine Arts Award from Inlaks Shivadasani Foundation (2006). Her work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions including Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi (2018); Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (2018); Land Art Mongolia (2016); and San Jose Museum of Art (2011). Her work is also in the collections of Singapore Art Museum; Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi; and Seattle Art Museum.

Yang Yongliang - Asia Arts Future Award

Yang Yongliang‘s multifaceted practice melds traditional East Asian aesthetics with digital technology as a means to comment on the rapid changes occurring within Chinese society in the last few decades. The artist’s signature black-and-white photo collages and video montages utilize appropriated imagery from building sites and cityscapes to reconstruct the gentrification of Shanghai and other Chinese major cities in the style of Song- and Yuan-dynasty landscape paintings. Yang’s work has been exhibited at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (2015); 5th Moscow Biennale (2013); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2013); and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2012).

Co-Chairs

Pheroza Godrej & Sangita Jindal

All proceeds from Asia Arts Game Changer Awards India support Asia Society Arts & Culture initiatives worldwide. Asia Society’s Asia Arts Game Changer Awards India is co-organized by Asia Society Museum, New York, and Asia Society India Centre.