At this Ted Talk, Ravin Agrawai presents an overview of 10 upcoming contemporary Indian artists. Below is the talk, and more in depth information about each artist.

More about the artists

• Bharti Kher at Hauser & Wirth
• Alwar Balasubramaniam
• Chitra Ganesh
  Excerpt from Rabbithole

• Jitish Kallat
  Perspectives on contemporary art, interview with The Economist
  
• N.S. Harsha
• Dhruvi Acharya
• Raqib Shah
  A group show including the work of Raqib Shah where ornamentation is given voice.
  
• Raqs Media Collective
  
• Subodh Gupta
  Show from the Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
  
• Ranjani Shettar

Indian culture found in the artist’s work

• amar chitra kathas – “Immortal Captivating (or Picture) Stories”, is one of India’s largest selling comic book series, with more than 90 million copies sold in 20 Indian languages. Founded in 1967, the imprint has more than 400 titles that retell stories from the great Indian epics, mythology, history, folklore, and fables in a comic book format. (wikipedia)
• bindi (as used by Bharti Kher) – is a forehead decoration worn in South Asia (particularly India) and Southeast Asia… Traditionally it is a dot of red colour applied in the center of the forehead close to the eyebrows, but it can also consist of a sign or piece of jewelry worn at this location. The bindi has become a decorative item and is no longer restricted in colour or shape. Self-adhesive bindis (also known as sticker bindis) are available, usually made of felt or thin metal and adhesive on the other side. These are simple to apply, disposable substitutes for older tilak bindis. Sticker bindis come in many colors, designs, materials, and sizes. Fancier sticker bindis are decorated with sequins, glass beads, or rhinestones. (wikipedia)

This great animation, by the artist Blu, is drawn and erased frame by frame on real walls and buildings in Baden and Buenos Aires.

Visit the artist Blu’s web site.

Related posts:

1. Performance – Live Animation
2. Reverse Graffiti
3. Graffiti Artists at the Bethlehem Wall

In Bethlehem, artists from all over the world, including local artists, have been making art on the barrier wall separating Israel and Palestine.

Video from the BBC:

Read more from
The Washington Times
National Public Radio

Related posts:

1. Reverse Graffiti
2. Beijing Modern Dance Company – Pink Floyd’s The Wall
3. Graffiti Animation Runs Across Walls

When you paint images not with spray cans or pigment, but instead by cleaning dirt and pollution from public places in artistic patterns – painting the image by removing dirt – this is reverse graffiti. This defaces no surface, and in fact starts to clean what a city should have cleaned to begin with. In order to remove the image, you don’t sandblast or get out the toxic cleaners. Instead you just finish cleaning the surface. The whole surface returns to its original bright clean color. Just like someone writing “Wash Me!” into the grime on a dirty car windshield might shame someone into actually washing their car just to get rid of the message – so reverse graffiti artists cause cities to clean where they should have already.

In São Paulo Brazil, artist Alexandre Orion:

In Paris, corporate reverse graffiti (for the Electronic Arts game Burnout, but through a beautifully designed guerrilla campaign at Kah Ra Shin):

Related books: Graffiti Brasil and Street World: Urban Culture and Art from Five Continents.

Travel to Brazil or France (Travelocity).

Related posts:

1. Graffiti Artists at the Bethlehem Wall
2. Graffiti Animation Runs Across Walls
3. Brazilian and Russian Street Art