The last decade has witnessed a noticeable return to utopia and utopian thinking in contemporary art. This volume convenes artists, academics and curators to discuss different ways of thinking and performing utopia. Divided into two sections, "Utopia Revisited" and "Utopian Positions," it considers both artists exploring the theme as subject matter and artists actively aspiring towards utopian ideals.
Contemporary art in India has enjoyed a tremendous flourishing since the early 1990s, thanks in part to the country’s economic growth and the increased availability of media technology. As Indian artists establish an ever-stronger presence on the global art scene, Art Now shows how their negotiations of the global and the local are yielding fascinating fruit. Included here are works by Rina Banerjee, Hemali Bhuta, Atul Dodiya, Sheela Gowda, Shilpa Gupta, Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat, Reena Kallat, Rashmi Kaleka, Bharti Kher, Ravinder Reddy, Vivan Sundaram and Thukral and Tagra, among others--artists who have found ways to express the aspirations and conflicts of a new generation, through media varying from painting, sculpture and photography to installation and interactive art. Leading Indian critics, scholars, writers and artists discuss new developments and artistic positions in Indian contemporary art, and its role on the global art scene.