With stock market in a tailspin, people are looking to build a more diversified portfolio of investments that will cushion them against such random and rapid falls in equities. Indeed, stock markets world over have turned topsy-turvy in recent times as the indices have become hyper-sensitive to inflation, recession and any negative macro or micro-economic clues. Experts are advising investors to stay away from the stock markets, and rightly so!

On the other hand, Indian art and artists have truly gone global with a string of shows – solo as well as group – involving both established and emerging artists. Global art auction houses and event directors are giving a place of pride to practitioners from the country, leaving an indelible mark on the international art scene. Indeed, contemporary Indian art and artists have gone global with a string of shows. We take a quick look at some of the internationally acclaimed artists who will continue to find favor with collectors and/ or investors…

Atul Dodiya: His diverse and dynamic art practice, socially and politically responsible in nature, has evolved to become increasingly complex, with the subjects of his address, and his references more specific. His striking imagery has invariably been packed with a stirring swirl of motifs: Bollywood, film stars, political icons, Hindu mythology characters, and so on.

Subodh Gupta: Though he often dwells on domestic themes, he has become an internationally renowned artist. A sculptor, installation-maker, video artist and painter -all rolled in one, this multi-faceted practitioner incorporates in his works everyday objects like bicycles, thali pans, and milk pails, as well as the mass-produced steel boxes used to carry lunch.

Bose Krishnamachari: As a creator, curator and practitioner of art in various forms and domains, he likes to challenge and defy conventional concepts of visual art practices to set his own norms. He has further broadened and deepened his curatorial vision with the Mumbai-based Gallery BMB.

Jitish Kallat: Counted among the most exciting and talented contemporary artists not just in India, but also internationally, he has received recognition for his dynamic work that reflects an involvement with Mumbai.

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Giftex is here again! The 2012 edition is set to underline why the event is without doubt among the most keenly awaited and highly valued shows in its domain. It’s truly one of its kind event not only in Mumbai but across India.

Indeed no other exhibit revolving around the theme of gifting manages to generate so much buzz and excitement as this annual show. What are its features that make Giftex so special and unique?

•    Giftex acts as a one stop shopping event for bulk purchases by corporate entities and Traders, giving buyers access to India’s top sourcing hub. It will have on offer among the most dynamic and contemporary gifting themes ever seen. All the innovative gifts can be sourced under one roof.

•    Despite the looming recession world over, India continues to do well as a nation. The country’s industry and corporate houses are doing reasonably well. Giftex 2012, to be hosted at Nehru Centre, worli, Mumbai will sure reflect the vibrancy of India’s resilient corporate scene! It is going to be the Season’s biggest ever buying opportunity professionals and marketers cannot afford to miss…

•    There are going to be several new gifting ideas on offer at Giftex 2012 for those looking for creative options. With hundreds of stalls and thousands of gifting items, you can get a catchy corporate gift portfolio – in retail and in bulk.

•    Considered India’s biggest and the most ambitious corporate gifting exhibition, the event is sure to live up to the hype, which it has generated over the years, providing the perfect opportunity to build an exclusive gift folio.

The truly overwhelming response to the previous Giftex edition was because of extremely enthusiastic participation. This is another exciting aspect of the event. Top business professionals cutting across a diverse spectrum of business industries, domains, brands and domains is a testimony to the rising popularity of this hugely successful event.

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The festival of Makar Sankranti and kites go hand in hand. It’s a perfect opportunity to spread cheer and generate some goodwill.
The festival of kites, til-gul laddoos (sesame and jiggery) and gacchak gives a good chance to align with the popular motifs. People of all ages, cutting across the cross-section of the society, pick up their favorite kite designs.

Bollywood star Amrita Rao quips in an interview: “The sport mirrors our aspirations and inspirations. Just like our dreams and ambitions, the kite soars higher and even after it’s cut, it will glide down gracefully.” So there’s a lesson to be learnt for all of us, as to always keep flying high, never give up, and accept failure graciously.

In a way, kites provide a good opportunity for branding. But instead of simply printing a ubiquitous logo of your company, why not keep in mind the popular trend, and accordingly design or gift kinds that are popular? Last year Bollywood symbols were in demand, whereas kites that flaunt tinselville stars seem to be grabbing for attention along with those bearing Anna Hazare and the World Cup winning Team India this year. Actor Vidya Balan in her ‘Silk’ avatar of The Dirty Picture also surfaces on the kites.

Kites bearing the social activist, cricketers, and those of the Bollywood beauties are very much demand. The kites made of PVC plastic in the range of Rs 10- Rs 250 are also popular because they are more durable. Why not organize a kite-flying competition for your staff, and give an award to the winner to create a sense of unity and build team spirit.

Festivals like Makar Sankranti provide a perfect opportunity to bring your employees, colleagues, business associates, clients and partners together, keeping aside professional relations and bonding in a more informal manner. This helps build a rapport with the people who matter to your business. Even popular celebrities can be invited to add a tinge of glamor to the event. This will be a good promotional activity and an apt, occasion based branding exercise.

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Artists belonging to the new-age, dynamic India, greatly influenced by global developments in contemporary art thanks to greater exposure to the international art world, now work in a diverse range genres, styles, subjects and mediums. Their works are worth collecting:

T.M. Azis: His work is figurative in nature. The paintings may revolve around what might be outwardly ordinary, everyday occurrences, deeply contemplated over.

Samit Das: Space or rather lack of it in the burgeoning cities is his primary artistic concern which he expresses through his visuals loaded with metaphors.

Murali Cheeroth: His involvement with theatre coupled with continuing interest in cinema helps him in presenting his images through dramatic ambiance for an unusual perspective.

Hindol Brahmbhatt: He treats his work as a documentation of historical reality in contemporary context, and looks for clues of social changes.

Nitish Bhattacharjee: His work is a documentation of his memories, his impressions, and perceptions of his surroundings.

Sudarshan Shetty:  He takes apart ubiquitous objects without dismantling them, and decodes them, by revealing their inherent mechanical being.

Bharti Kher: Her practice revolves around pangs of dislocation and transience, involving an autobiographical examination of identity.

Reena Saini Kallat: She is known to be deeply influenced by the never-ending cycle of life and nature, as well as the extremely fragile nature of the human condition.

Anju Dodiya: The self is often at the center of her work that explores various possibilities within it. Her practice is rooted in the figurative.

Rekha Rodwittiya: Her female protagonists are often elevated to iconic proportions. They can simultaneously occupy multiple avatars.

Navjot Altaf: Known for her multimedia work, largely interactive sculpture, photo and video based installations, she tackles varied themes of gender/memory/ history and loss.

Nalini Malani: Her artistic world, largely constituted by visible overlays, is fluid with everything in a constant state of metamorphosis.

Anita Dube: Her aesthetic language incorporates ubiquitous objects, everyday materials and images that together resonate with a meaning far beyond perceived local and prosaic associations.

Chitra Ganesh: While firmly rooted in a Western, postmodern discourse, the artist’s cultural references let her convey the principle of a multiplicity as a spirit, which draws together, and not breaks apart.

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With the sun just rising on the horizon of the Indian art world, it’s time to soak into the creative journey of emerging talent! We provide you a glimpse of some of the most promising artists from India, bound to be in limelight in the coming years…

Highly talented contemporary Indian artists have attained appreciation and applause on the international art scene for their propensity to express current concerns through quaint and recognizable motifs. In this context, the fascinating works by our female artists deserve a special and separate mention.

Here are some of the noteworthy female artists who have won the nod of collectors and critics…

Jayashree Chakravarty: For this sensitive artist, painting is a process and means of making sense of the chaos around her.
Mithu Sen: Known for unconventional themes and forms, she represents the new wave of talent in contemporary Indian art. She puts to use a wide range of media.

Schandra Singh: She mostly works in the medium of oil and gouache, touches upon shared social and political realities.
Meetali Singh: According to the artist, she treads a fine territory between real-life emotions and sheer imagination. Hence the images are surreal, dreamy in nature.

Heeral Trivedi: Looking at history and connecting past histories with present, the artist looks to draw parallels among women in different eras.

Anu Agarwal: Bold lines, stark contours and fantastic female forms are the hallmarks of her oeuvre.

Jignasa Doshi: She focuses on the showbiz for depicting the increasing showiness and shallowness, as she terms it, under the garb of sophistication.

Suhasini Kejriwal: At first casual glance, her beautiful works -tend to camouflage the more disturbing view one begins to notice after further analyzing it. Startling juxtapositions and unconscious associations, which transcend habitual thinking to reveal deeper alternate levels of meaning, emerge.

Sonia Mehra Chawla: Her work encapsulates and inculcates the ever-fluid essence of the organic. The ambiguous, hybrid forms often suggest the generative and the sensuous.

Parvathi Nayar: Her practice largely revolves around drawing and painting; conceptually it is rooted in ideas of narrative, at different ways of looking, perceiving and the privileging of sight.

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It may be that one of your friends or family members have burnt their fingers in the stock market meltdown. Can you provide them with some succor? Do you want to suggest them an alternative avenue to park their hard-earned money to safeguard and grow it? Is there a way to assured wealth building in these uncertain times? Well, you need not harangue them on risk-free investing.

What you need do is just buy a nice piece of art, and gift it to them. It’s bound to fascinate them. Then draw their attention to the fact that many high net worth individuals and non resident Indians are putting their money in art! Here are some artists to consider:

Chintan Upadhyay: He often explores the iconography of Pop to convey his subject matter. His paintings carry references from media, advertisements, Bollywood and even the traditional miniature paintings.

Baiju Parthan: His fascination for technology, blended with his passion for mythology is palpable in his practice. The artist views them as symbiotic, as he thinks both mythology and technology feed off each other.

Riyas Komu: His oeuvre refers to the paradoxes of the urban situation that he paints with cynicism and compassion. The artist strives to archive the times, as well as reflect our immediate concerns – both localized and globalized.

Jagannath Panda: In his Panda’s work, a routine event or any commonplace object gets imparted with symbolic stature that is oriented to represent collective aspirations or sometimes rigid dogmas.

T.V. Santhosh: Drawing on images and news reports from the media, he combines pointed text and repetitive sculptural forms to make a statement on both the persistent nature of violence and the way it gradually becomes the norm, through recurrence.

Sunil Gawde: His tools often include sophisticated paint materials and implements like trowels and scrapers for achieving a layered depth in his pigments. This results in textured surfaces - dynamic and dramatic in nature.

D Ebenezer Sunder Singh: The paintings of Paul Cézanne and his principles of Art influenced me immensely. The human figures (the central element of his pictures) shift time and space to locate the psychological characteristics and the principles of life.

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Gifts with something inscribed, something engraved or a scrapbook can add a personal touch.

Gifts with something inscribed

Books can indeed be a thoughtful and very special gift, but inscriptions carry them to a whole new level of intimacy. Buy your buddy a new book of fiction (need not be romantic) that she or he has been always talking about and is craving to read. It can also be his or her favorite classic, a journal, or a coffee-table book, the subject matter does matter, but your inscription does make it special.

Something engraved

An obvious gift may not be on its own such an innovative idea, but there’s an easy method to take it even the simplest and commonest of gifts into an entirely ultimate romantic orbit by engraving! By branding a cell phone, bracelet or even a simple key chain with your feelings and emotions or simply with your initials, or a memorable day, you can send the message in a subtle way.

A personal scrapbook

Don’t think that we are suggesting you simply cut & paste some pictures into a scrapbook but this is definitely the wonderful way of preserving and rekindling romantic memories. It’s rather about as near to any home-made gift and isn’t it nice narrating the story of your romance or friendship with a personal scrapbook as gift.

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