New York: In an indication of Indian art coming out of its god-depictions and miniature painting mould, a painting exhibition of several renowned contemporary Indian artists opened here to rave reviews from critics.

The week-long exhibition, with work of 26 artists on display, is the first instance when only contemporary Indian works are being displayed sans traditional works depicting gods and goddess or miniature paintings, the organisers said.

The exhibition titled India 2008, New York, The Journey is intended to acquaint art lovers in the United States with Indian contemporary work and introduce the artists who have high degree of talent, Industrialist S K Modi who has conceptualised the event said.

"The idea is to inform the international art world that India has much more to offer than paintings of god and goddesses", Modi said at the inauguration of the exhibition curated by Kalpana Shah.

He also said that some auction houses, who have never sold contemporary Indian art, have shown interest in visiting the exhibition to evaluate the paintings.

The exhibition has been organized by India's International Institute of Fine Arts (IIF) in cooperation with New York Academy of Arts and is supported by Deutsche Bank.

IIF, which has already held several international exhibitions, has further plans to hold more such displays to popularize Indian artists and their works.

The institute has also planned an exhibition at the United Nations during the next session of the General Assembly to give artists the maximum possible exposure, Modi said.
Source : PTI