For all visual creative minds working in the 21st century, applications like Instagram are a boon in a digital age where all your creations can be showcased at the click of a button. This photo-sharing hub has brilliantly laid down a media-stage for several urban-contemporary artists and designers to put forth their raw artwork for followers across the world on a universal platform. Taking advantage of this, we decided to pick out some of urban India’s contemporary artists who use Instagram to show all art-lovers their work, so that every time we’re scrolling on the app’s home page, our eyes are met with a visual treat. Gaining a sneak peek into their creative voyage, we explored all the variables they merge together to highlight the simplicity in their art, and we’ve remained consistently intrigued by the budding talent in this country’s new-age visual sphere.
From painters to cartoon illustrators and graphic designers to furniture artists, and everything in between, here are 20 young, contemporary Indian artists you need to follow on Instagram.
I. Aditi Dash – @dotsndash
Aditi Dash is a Mumbai-based freelance illustrator and visual artist who was recently commissioned by ELLE India to create a rendition of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland in an Indian context, celebrating 150 years of the character’s journey through the strange, dream-like landscape of Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece.
HG loves: Her experiments with colours and animals create groovy psychedelic prints that we can’t get enough of.
II. Aleesha Nandhra - @aleesha_n
Aleesha Nandhra is an illustrator based out of London who finds her muse in the smallest things in life. A graduate from the Cambridge School of Art, her work tends to be a mixture of traditional and digital media.
HG loves: Her style, known as technique-drawing, brings out a bold pop-art vibe in her characters and scenery.
III. Alicia Souza - @aliciasouza
“There isn’t just one source, the entire world is my source of inspiration.” The key above all is ‘noticing’, says budding cartoon illustrator and entrepreneur Alicia Souza. Raised in Abu Dhabi, she currently resides in Bangalore illustrating the world with her whimsical flair, drawing happy things for happy people.
HG Loves: The simplicity in her daily drawings directly contrasts her eccentric characters and quirky personalities, leaving us in a cheerful trance.
IV. Anant Ahuja - @typethug
Hailing from New Delhi, Anant Ahuja draws his artistic inspiration from Jessica Hische, who changed his life and introduced him to the world of art and illustration. As a print-based designer with a love for typography and Swiss poster layouts, Ahuja’s art represents a unique style of design in India. At the moment, he works as the creative director of a new venture called Inchwork.
HG Loves: Ahuja captivates us with his artistic flair as he conceptualises and brands his designs and products. Look out for Darth Vader in a suit and tie, it’s not to be missed.
V. Aniruddh Mehta - @Bigfatminimalist
Record discs, cubes, blocks, and new-age robotic forms are Aniruddh Mehta’s prominent symbols in many artworks, while others take on a completely different life of colours like a psychedelic dream. Patterns represent a symmetric haze of tiles and geometric vibrations, putting his own personal stamp on minimalism, and a little typography rears its head in a few works too.
HG Loves: His futuristic use of elements and spatial balance is almost hypnotizing and marks his visual identity of minimalism, contrasted with his dual penchant for colourful, psychedelic artworks.
VI. Gaurav Basu - @acid_toad
“ART is a three letter english word that has the capacity to describe our cultural evolution as a species,” exclaims Gaurav Basu, famously known as Acid Toad. This Bangalore-based graphic artist is the frontman of death metal band Inner Sanctum, and his art manifests through forms of metal sub-culture and psychedelia.
HG Loves: The incorporation of tones and colors in his art draws out trippy tessellations and urbane imagery.
VII. Gaurav Ogale - @patranimacchi
Visual chronicler Gaurav Ogale tells his stories through various mediums of expression, exploring photography, art and writing. His elementary style of work revolves around rural India and nostalgic themes of life.
HG Loves: His artwork subtly mirrors his own inquisitive nature.
VIII. Jasjyot Singh Hans - @jasjyotjasjyot
Illustrator and animator Jasjyot Singh Hans dabbles in the artistic melting pot of fashion, music and body image illustrations shown to the world through Instagram and Tumblr. His characters exude shades of anger, intimacy and sexuality, as he explores raw human emotions.
HG Loves: His perfect neo-Indian women reinforce a sense of beauty in multiplicity, with a variety of body images and skin tones.
IX. Jyotiba Patil - @jyotiba14
Artist, painter, illustrator and visual designer Jyotiba Patil creates enchanting worlds of ferrofluid. The delicate detailing in his work is as surreal as it is intoxicating, creating a unique style that not many Indian artists play with. He experiments with everything he can get his hands on, from paint on canvas to silk screen projects and more.
HG Loves: His use of immaculate colour palettes with a twist of optical illusions creates a visual symmetry like no other.
X. Kaveri Gopalkrishnan - @kaverigeewhiz
Independent comic maker and illustrator Kaveri Gopalkrishnan, who hails from Bangalore, has a vivacious tone ringing through each of her illustrations. Echoing curiosity and the wild, unpredictable nature of urban culture, her work embodies a thirst for new experiences.
HG Loves: The ethereal illustrations are bold and intricate which will have you scrolling through her Instagram, looking for more and more.
XI. Krsna Mehta - @krsnaamehta
Mumbai-based artist and product designer Krsna Mehta crafts a system of ecospheres filled with patterns and designs. Quirky elements emerge from each piece of art he conceptualises, bringing something new and unique to the table with each creation.
HG Loves: Lovers of beautiful things should follow his Instagram account, where home décor just got a whole lot more interesting.
XII. Lamya Dohadwala-@lamyadohadwala
Lamya Dohadwala’s graphic designs act like a surreal gateway into a whole other dimension of symmetry and colour, where every piece of art has a unique story to tell.
HG Loves: The duality of each creation, where traditional touch merges with contemporary charm.
XIII. Nikhil Acquilla – @hecanteatchicken
Raised in Kerala and based out of Mumbai, graphic illustrator Nikhil Acquilla’s art reflects an influence of vintage pop and a street-esque vibe. Minimalism rises out of his work, which marks the uniqueness of his style.
HG Loves: The negative spaces in his artwork urge the viewer’s mind to question the role and purpose of each character and what they represent.
XIV. Pia Meenakshi - @gumanib
Pia is as multifaceted as she is talented, working as a collector, painter, illustrator and tattoo artist while simultaneously running the Bangalore-based design studio Gumani. Having grown up around a lot of wildlife, plants and animals feature as themes across her art.
HG Loves: Pia’s illustrations and tattoos have a running essence of intrigue and nostalgia.
XV. Smriti Choudhary - @airphish
Creating dreamlike visual experiences through each and every artistic manifestation is Smriti Choudhary, a Delhi-based illustrator and graphic designer who delights in experimenting with different mediums and learning new, innovative ways of expression.
HG Loves: Exquisite aquatic and aerial hand-drawn and screen-printed designs feature on a line of illustrated lifestyle products, highlighting conception art made true through technology.
XVI. Sonali Zohra -@danger.cat
As a lover of space, science, history and evolution, illustrator and photographer Sonali Zohra’s artistic hub is her studio Dangercat where one can revel in the beauty of her spellbinding illustrations.
HG Loves: Her artwork is a clear reproduction of tremendous composition and her imaginative self.
XVII. Studio Kokaachi - @kokaachi
Studio Kokaachi stands tall in its duality, running as a graphic store and publishing house simultaneously. Hosted by artist couple Pratheek and Tina Thomas in Cochin, the store provides adults and kids with stories of all shades and genres through original art and comics.
HG Loves: Their collaborations with Indian illustrators, comic artists and writers represent a truly unique set of minds coming together in the name of innovation.
XVIII. Svabhu Kohli - @svabhukohli
Svabhu Kohli, a constantly evolving visual communicator, weaves his ideas into various characters through multiple artistic mediums, bringing each creative thought he has to life.
HG Loves: Vibrant textures with collisions of colour and mystical imagery bring forth the element of diversity.
XIX. Vidyasagar Saple - @nosoupforyoo
Freelance illustrator and designer Vidyasagar Saple’s work is dedicated to creating digital fan art and poster designs, giving the local audience a taste of relatable work with a touch of uniqueness.
HG Loves: His quirky designs draw inspiration from pop culture, with a strong focus on humour thrown in for good measure.
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