The Lexicon Art presents Alchemy of Matter, a landmark exhibition curated by Rahul Bhattacharya, showcasing the transformative studio culture of Baroda. Featuring works by 16 distinguished artists, this exhibition explores a critical shift in artistic practice—a reimagination of materiality that challenges traditional perceptions and redefines the role of materials in contemporary art.
Baroda, historically renowned as the cradle of the Narrative movement and later a stronghold of mediatic realism, now emerges as a site of profound experimentation. The city’s studios have become incubators for cross-generational dialogue, fostering innovative approaches to both traditional and unconventional materials. Artists are not only engaging with mediums such as canvas, clay, glass, and bronze but are also re-politicising them, imbuing these materials with new semantics and cultural significance.
Title of the show: The Lexicon Art Gallery presents The Alchemy of Matter–Material as Memory, Studio as Site
Curator Name: Rahul Bhattacharya
Dates: 05th May, 2025 till 10th June, 2025
Time: 11 AM – 7 PM
Venue: The Lexicon Art Gallery, M-12 Connaught Place Outer Circle, New Delhi
The exhibition highlights this ‘new materiality’ through the works of mid-career and emerging artists: Mayur Gupta, Sashidharan Nair, Indrapramit Roy, Anuj Poddar, Ganesh Gohain, Santana Gohain, Chander Prakash, Vinod Daroz, Alok Bal, Nimesh Patel, Uday Mondal, Ajay Lakhera, Rai David, Santa Rakshit, Lochan upadhyaya, and Shaik AzgharAli. Their practices reflect an evolving artistic trajectory that moves beyond narrative traditions and conceptual frameworks to engage deeply with material as a medium of storytelling and critique.
Through this collective exploration, The Alchemy of Matter invites viewers to witness how Baroda’s artists are reshaping contemporary art. The exhibition serves as a testament to the city’s enduring legacy as a crucible for innovation while marking its transition into new realms of artistic inquiry.
On the occasion Mamta Nath, Founder of The Lexicon Art Gallery said, Alchemy of Matter exposes the intimate practice of creating an artwork in the confines of the studio. We are delighted by the phenomenal response to the show’s inauguration at Bikaner House. It now continues at our gallery space in Connaught Place from 5th May onwards.
On the occasion Curator Rahul Bhattacharya said, The overwhelming response to The Alchemy of Matter at Bikaner House affirmed what we sensed all along: that material speaks, and viewers are ready to listen differently. As the show travels to Gallery Lexicon, it returns not as a repetition but as a re-encounter—with new contexts, new spatial tensions, and renewed questions about what matter remembers, resists, and refuses to reveal. Each iteration is shaped by its site, and with it, the work shifts—subtly, sometimes radically.
