An art night to remember

Editor’s note: Our in-house art nerd Mekhala Singhal walks us through Art Night Thursday, an attempt to democratise the alienating and elitist world of art. Learn all about this cool monthly initiative and discover the works of seven incredible contemporary artists being displayed this month. 

Written by: Mekhala Singhal

Art Night Thursday is trying to solve a problem we’ve all been beating our heads against. How can art, so uniquely inaccessible, reach more people? It’s not an affordability problem—art is, for the most part, free to look at. Most galleries remain open to the public; and besides, in the modern age, everything is a click away. Find an artist, learn all about them, discover their work—all on your phone. The problem, then, lies in the cultural practice of art—its loyal patrons, the language used to talk about it, and the type of people and experiences it tends to represent. The gatekeeping is built in.

The Mumbai Gallery Association (MGA), in an attempt to confront these alienating realities of the art world, has been running a monthly event called Art Night Thursday for a few years. On the second Thursday of every month, up to 36 galleries in Mumbai are open extended hours, until 9 pm, for anybody to visit. Some galleries may be opening a brand new show, some may be having a curator walk-through, some may just have the artists there for you to talk to and ask questions.

Using the series as a launchpad, we shine a light on some contemporary artists—on display at these galleries in September—worth learning more about. 

Krithika Sriram

Krithika Sriram, a visual artist and photographer, has used anthotypes with rose pigments in her most recent series to create self-portraits. Anthotypes are prints made with photosensitive plant pigments; in this process, the pigment, when reacting with light, creates an image. 

Her work attempts to subvert historical ideas of shame and modesty. Dalit women, in Tamil Nadu, were not allowed to use or wear flowers. By using what was once banned and restricted, Sriram reclaims the body as a site of resistance. The images themselves are intimate close-ups, drawing the viewer into a world washed in pink.

Krithika Sriram’s Kuvalai is currently on view as part of The Parliament is Now in Session at Method Kala Ghoda until 21 September 2025.

Umesh PK

Born and raised in Kerala, Umesh PK’s work is heavily influenced by his childhood—growing up in nature, surrounded by the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. His paintings, filled with vibrant colours and detailed landscapes, make the worlds inside them seem both familiar and distant.

The work evokes in the viewer a sense of lost time, and a motivation to reconnect with nature and land. He plays with light and space in his paintings, lending it a quality of fantastical surrealism. Even as Umesh PK looks to explore uncertain new territories, his work maintains an appreciation for beauty and detail that traditional landscape artists have always valued. 

Umesh PK’s Looking at a Tree, Seeing a Forest is currently on view at Akara Contemporary until 27 September 2025.

T Vinoja

T Vinoja, born in Sri Lanka in 1991, draws on her experiences with migration and displacement to reimagine the act of remembering. Her art, through textiles and other found material, interrogates the relationship between the individual and the land, and the impact of separation on the displaced.

Reaching beyond formal research and documentation, Vinoja’s work tells the stories of those alienated from their homeland through embroidered route maps, sutures, threads, patterns, and lines, exploring the possibilities offered to us by the practice of craft in times of conflict. Further, her work acts as a method of record-keeping, in times where official records and documents can so easily perish.

T Vinoja’s A Moving Cloak in Terrain will be on view at Experimenter Colaba 11 September 2025–18 October 2025.

Louise Despont

Louise Despont’s work, concerned with the spirit and sentience of the natural world, and the relationships between beings, is labour intensive and meticulous. The New York-born artist explores how the visible and the invisible interact in her work, which is almost reminiscent of botanical diagrams from biology textbooks.

Louise Despont’s Correspondence will be on view at Galerie ISA 11 September 2025–23 October 2025.

Arun KS

Arun KS’s paintings, made with the use of rice paper, casein-based pigment, lime plaster, and more, present an abstract rendering of human emotion. His work compels the viewer to reconsider their relationship with time and space. Known for his unique process of layering in his art, his paintings—detailed and vast—feel intuitive yet thorough. 

He invites the viewer to move beyond the literal. Through the use of patterns, shapes, colours, and textures in the layers in his art, he distils human experiences into their primal, natural forms.

Arun KS’s Breath is currently on view at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinrucke.

Hemali Vadalia

A software developer turned artist, Hemali Vadalia centres practices of care and domesticity in her paintings. With soft, diffused outlines and an almost dreamlike quality, her art inspires in the viewer a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. 

Vadalia has trained in Florence and New York, and her art follows an autobiographical narrative, drawing you into her world, making you a part of its habits. She focuses on the intimate and the personal, and thus her work has a welcoming relatability to it.

Hemalia Vadalia’s Where The Light Falls Gently is currently on view at sub:continent until 13 September 2025.

Bharathesh GD

Bangalore-based artist and curator Bharathesh GD investigates signs, symbols, and meaning-making through his abstract and colourful multimedia work. In questioning where images and their meanings come from, his art raises in the viewer questions about the body, the material impact of the environment on the self, and the invisible structures we live within. 

Over the past two decades, his work has explored the visual language of political ideology and dissent. He uses a range of material, from watercolour to acrylics, to ask questions about democracy, institutional violence, and the individual’s relationship with the state.

Bharathesh GD’s An Index of Disobedience is currently on view at Fulcrum until 27 September 2025.

This month’s Art Night Thursday is on 11 September, and you can find the list of galleries on view over on the Mumbai Gallery Association website or Instagram.