Indian contemporary art is gaining acceptance and popularity in Dubai. Five to six years back, Indian art meant only works of Husain and Raza in Dubai. But today many artists like Anjolie Ela Menon, Lakshma Gaud, Himmat Shah, Paresh Maity and Joyshree Burman are attracting large number of buyers in Dubai.

But probably the most popular among the Indian artists in Dubai is Jogen Choudhury, whose works displayed at the last Dubai Art Fair sold away in the very first day. But among the European buyers Subodh Gupta and Jitish Kallat are equally popular.

This year however two new names are coming to the fore : Devajyoti Ray and Riyas Komu. Both these artists are new wave Indian artists whose works are significantly different from the Indian artists who have showed till now in Dubai.

Devajyoti Ray is comparatively new to Dubai, but his bold figurative paintings are already attracting attention. Devajyoti Ray’s style involves use of very bright colours in depicting regular, and often mundane scenes from daily life. They in one go talk about life in India while expressing a general mood of exuberance. 

Riyas Komu normally works with the photographic medium and is known for making large portrait-photos of people. But in Dubai, his recent show titled “Horizontal Realities” was a show of installations. Riyas Komu is likely to show up again in the Dubai International Art Fair which is to start in March this year.

The recent success of Devajyoti Ray and Riyas Komu is likely to encourage other new-generation artists like Justin Ponmany, Shibu Natesan and Bose Krishnamachari to also put up shows in Dubai. All these artists are popular in their own countries. It is time for them to step into the Dubai art field.