BCA Galleries

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bCA Galleries is a contemporary art gallery based in Mumbai, India.

bCA Galleries’ mission is to propose and promote emerging Indian contemporary artist on international market and to propose and promote international artists and arts in the yet introspected Indian art market. bCA Galleries is ideally based in Mumbai, which is not only the financial heart of India but is also the most important centre for contemporary art in India. And we believe that it won’t take long before Mumbai will become one of the centers for contemporary art in the world.

To fulfill one of its objectives: bCA organizes exhibitions of international artists in India; its exhibitions have made a mark on the art scenario in Mumbai. This has been achieved mainly because we have taken the initiative of doing something radically different from what is the norm. Instead of showing and promoting Indian artists in Mumbai which is already saturated with most artists emulating the style of others, we bring foreign emerging artists to Mumbai presenting a whole new cultural dimension for the art connoisseur to explore.

To fulfill its other objective, bCA Galleries has been engaged in proposing the works of promising Indian artists abroad. These are the promising new talent that bCA Galleries has carefully screened and selected. There may be many young artists who make an initial impression and fall by the wayside but we have used our committee of art experts, professors from reputed art institutes and art critics to ensure that the artists we promote not only have potential but are those that will go on to create a niche in the Indian contemporary art like the earlier great masters. Some of these artists’ works have already been shown in Europe and have been very well received by critics and art viewers alike. They bring to the foreign viewer the face of modern India. The works of these artists are iconoclastic in that they help break the set image into which Indian art has come to be molded.

This cross-cultural exchange presents untold possibilities of the impact it will have on the future of the Indian contemporary art scene.

bCA Galleries has been instrumental in organizing Namaste India, exhibiting the works of 50 Indian artists in different locations in Italy. These artists have been well received and of them four were selected to show in another exhibition titled “Arambh” in Italy. The Indian artists can now avail of an international platform and their diverse work helps to create awareness about Indian art breaking out of the traditional mold of folk art. Yet, bCA Galleries has not forgotten its duties towards India’s rich cultural heritage, we are actively promoting artist Jivya Soma Mashe who is the pioneer of Warli tribal art in India. At the same time, prominent Italian artists have had showings in India through the aegis of bCA Galleries. Artists Azelio Corni and Pino Ceriotti have had two shows in India, which have been very well received. The works of three promising Italian artists: Bruno di Lecce, Pino Oliva, and Silvia Serenari have also created a stir in the Mumbai art scene. Recently bCA Galleries presented to Mumbai one of the leading artists of Italy, Lucia Pescador, which had an overwhelming response from the press and the art fraternity alike who were amazed by her style and renditions. In October 2006, we hosted an exhibition of the works of Michele Lombardelli, which truly offered some insightful and powerful artworks to the Mumbai art world. Our exhibitions are organized in conjunction with prestigious art galleries in Italy including the famous Lattuada Studios and the Marella Gallery. While currently, we are focusing on Mumbai, the shows will also be taken to other major art centers in India like Delhi and Calcutta.

The artists which bCA promotes are amongst the best and most promising contemporary artists in the field. We undertake a stringent screening process with the aid of art critics and eminent art professors, to ensure that the artists we showcase have the talent worth nurturing and are serious about their craft. Based on the experience and the judgment of our illustrious panel of experts we can proudly say that the artists we promote will be the masters of the future.

Art lovers are spread across the globe and the desire to possess an exquisite work should not be restricted due to geographical impediments. The website offers numerous services and we simultaneously conduct online exhibitions along with the ones in the galleries. All artists sign an authentication certificate for each piece of art purchased from bCA Galleries, guaranteeing that our buyers have the satisfaction of being in possession of the original.

In the near future, bCA Galleries plans to widen our field of focus of promoting Indian artists to Europe and the USA. In India we will continue featuring the works of contemporary promising international talents. We seek to establish an ongoing relationship with the artists we promote and build a tradition of quality and trust around the globe.

For more information please visit bCA Galleries web site: http://www.bcagalleries.com or write to info@bcagalleries.com

Introduction to the Contemporary Indian Art

India, the land of culture and tradition has always had a close association with the fine arts. From the cave sculptures and paintings, tribal arts like the Madhubani and Warli and Mughal miniatures which thrived under the patronage of emperors, India is not a stranger to the development of art. The post-independence era saw the germination of contemporary Indian art with a decided move away from the traditional art forms. Abanindranath Tagore is often regarded as the pioneer with his use of Japanese and Chinese techniques in his works. Others like Nandalal Bose, Samarendranath Gupta, A.K. Haldar, Jamini Roy and Amrita Shergill have together been credited with laying the foundation of modern Indian art.

While the 1970’s saw a spurt in the Indian art market, it was nowhere close to the juggernaut it is today. It was only in 1995 Sotheby’s held its first auction of Indian contemporary art and sold a Tyeb Mehta for approximately Rs. 3.75 lakh (USD 7 475) that most felt that Indian art had finally got the recognition it deserved. Seven years later, his triptych, “Celebration” at a Christie’s auction in New York fetch Rs. 1.4 Crores (USD 317 500). In September 2005, another Metha sold for Rs. 7 Crores (USD 1.6 Millions). In two auctions at Sothersby’s and Christie’s in New York in 2006 sold Rs. 130 Crores (USA 29.27 Millions) of Indian contemporary art. Earlier, as recent as the last decade, Indian art at foreign auctions was represented by a few antiquities, with perhaps a few pieces of decorative art. Today, names like Tyeb Metha, M F Husain, S H Raza, J. Swaminathan and F N Souza lead the list of foreign auctions of Indian art.

A huge demand has developed also for the younger artists most of them are in the age group of 35 to 50 years, Surendran Nair, Ravindra Reddy, Rekha Rodwittiya, Nataraj Sharma, Paresh Maity, Shibu Natesan, G R Iranna, Jitish Kallat , Subodh Gupta, Anju Dodiya, Raquib Shaw are just a few of the names to reckon with and their numbers are growing.

While many speak of the gentle grace and finesse of the Calcutta artists, Mumbai and Delhi are the prime centers for art in India. The interest in art is of course a national phenomenon with galleries mushrooming in major cities and even big business houses investing in gallery space. It is estimated that even the smaller cities of India are witnessing art sales of about INR 10 crore per annum and this is expected to grow at a steady 25% annually. Art critics are sought after while owning an impressive collection of art is now considered a status symbol amongst the rich and famous!!

Paintings are vying with gilt edge securities and gold as investment options. Fund managers are now launching art funds for those who see art as a “creative investment.” Vik Mehrotra, CEO of Venus Capital Management, a hedge fund in Boston. “The contemporary art market in India is growing at 100 percent every year for the last five years,” he said. “It is still undervalued, and Indians are generating a lot of wealth with the economy booming.”

According to Yamini Mehta, specialist head of modern and contemporary Indian art at auction house Christie’s, "Buyers of Indian art have been, for a long time, Indian themselves. Now, there has been greater numbers from outside of India who are interested in Indian art. There is a lot more awareness to what is happening within India.” Numbers can only vouch her statement: starting from just Rs. 10 Crores (USD 2 Millions) in 2000, the annual turnover of the Indian art market is poised to touch the Rs 2,000 Crores (USD 500 Millions) mark in 2006 and is becoming a force to reckon with in the world arena. “Awareness of Indian art, the element of wealthy Indians and the ability to spend has all added to this phenomenon,” says Katriana Hazell, cultural director of Asia House Gallery, London. According to Robin Dean, head, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, Sotheby's, “…There are some very good times ahead for Indian art. And the money is going to be bigger than ever." However, there are many who bemoan that in the race to earn more some artists are sacrificing quality and aesthetics. In fact M F Hussain has himself being quoted as saying, “See, it is easy for these people to talk in terms of lakhs and crores today. But please remember, I had to struggle for decades before I could barely make my ends meet. I hope that young artists don’t get carried away by all this hype and hoopla.” The escalating prices has also brought with it the problem of circulation of fakes which in recent times had also led to several Indian art works being withdrawn from an international auction. The Indian contemporary art scene is indeed one worth investing in but requires the help of those who know the market and the artists well. In the words of Hugo Weihe, international director of Asian art, Christie's, New York, “the future belongs to Gen Next contemporary artists from India."

Contact details

We have been working with our current partner galleries based on different business models. We would be most honored if we could explore a mutually beneficial collaboration with your esteemed gallery.

For further information please contact:

Email: info@bcagalleries.com Telephone: +91 9320321545/6