Ceramic as art is a relatively marginalised art practice with very few galleries showcasing the works. One such gallery — Threshold gallery is hosting ceramist Vinod Daroz’s solo show. In his latest show Silent Shlokas the artist has tried to imbue ceramic with spiritually inspired imagery.

For those decrying the omnipresence of galleries that artificially create scarcity and then hike the price of an artist, or who have monopolistic hold over the market, or who have been accused of rigging the art market, the United Art Fair at Delhi may be an solution to their problems.

A group show Porous features sculpture, architecture, drawing, installation and performances by Ruby Chishti, Rakhi Peswani and Priyanka Choudhary. It explores linkages between historical, cultural and social contexts and phenomenological experiences of the materials through the different mediums and treatments by these young artists.

J Swaminathan in his death as well as in his life remains a constant source of refreshing ideas to all who knew him and read him. An original when everyone was trying to imitate each other’s success. The recent show, Transits of A Wholetimer: J. Swaminathan 1950-1969 contains his letters, articles, paintings, forming a document of his early life and art.

Sohan Qadri would have turned eighty-years-old this year, and the latest showing of his works at Threshold Gallery is a kind of a homage to the man, his art and his commitments. Born in pre-partition Punjab, Qadri imbibed the syncretism and mystical traditions of the Sufis, the Kanaphata yogis, the Qalandars and the bhakta gurus.

S Harsha Vardhana’s latest show of mixed media works Ideations: Colour, Form, Dimension and Space continues his engagement with textures and geometric forms, especially the triangle. A former technocrat, now a self taught artist, Harsha Vardhana, has an excellent artistic pedigree and exposure to varied aesthetic influences that get reflected in his works. His abstract works are dominated by the use of earth colours in variegated but subtle tones, delving into the primeval and the organic.

The latest show The Indian Landscape: The Changing Horizon at the Delhi Art Gallery, presents as it does an overview of landscape painting over the 19th and 20th centuries, evokes a profound sense of loss. Loss of the idyllic, loss of symbiotic relationship between man and nature and most importantly, the loss of the sensibility that celebrated beauty in art.

An intriguingly titled show of paintings, Birds, Butterflies and Henry Moore, by Ravi Gossain is on display at Gallery Ragini. There are birds perched on his forms, sometimes acting as witnesses/observers, sometimes giving the composition direction by raising its face towards the light source.

Three recent solo shows by young artists have explored the space available to contemporary artists in dealing with and delineating the human body. Upto the 19th century, the human body was considered to be either the image of God or rendered by the divine itself; therefore artists sought to render it as realistically and tastefully as possible.

A slew of art awards, many recently instituted, complemented by established ones such as those given by art schools have led to the resurfacing of the debate on biases, most importantly the raison d’etre of awarding avant garde, anti-establishment and avowedly anti-commercial, art practices such as installations, happenings and the like.