Darpana Capoor, Associate Director at Anant Art Gallery

Tell us about your outfit influences for today because it’s very beautiful.

It’s not purely Western. It’s a bit of a fusion with Indian and Western influences. This is a tunic made of silk and cotton from a homegrown brand called Three Clothing. I wear a lot of homegrown brands that work towards sustainable fashion. The neck piece I’m wearing is from a brand that works with metal and fiber and makes everything handmade. Unfortunately, they have phased out their brand.

Do you feel the way you dress or the kind of art that you gravitate towards are in conversation with one another? 

For me, dressing is very personal. Being in the creative industry, I think dressing is something that comes very organically and something which is not run of the mill, so I like to make my own combinations or get my own style statement in place. 

Could you give us an introduction to Anant Art Gallery?

We’re an art gallery from New Delhi, India, and we showcase South Asian voices. We have a program with a mix of emerging, contemporary artists, mid-career and senior artists. We have three artists showcasing here. We have Vikrant Bhise, Probir Gupta, and Bushra Waqas Khan. The gallery was established in the early 2000s, and we continue to show contemporary art in New Delhi. This is our first time in America and our first participation at The Armory Show. The past two days have been busy and very exciting and we’ve been looking forward to the weekend. America is the place to be in, and we’re very happy to see how well received South Asian art is here. Just hoping for more.

How would you describe the South Asian art scene, particularly that of India?

It’s very robust at the moment. India has made its place or is making its place on the global art map. The South Asian art on the whole is very strong at the moment. If you see the way our artists are going to different biennales, triennales, etc., you can see it holds a very robust place, and also the auction numbers are going up. So the market is very robust for Indian artists. 

In fact, I heard the recent winner of the Loewe Craft Prize is an artist from India.

Yes. Sumakshi Singh. She’s a great artist, I follow her. She and I went to the same art institution as well.

(IG: anantartgallery)