South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art

Contact

• New York

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    Nishad Avari

    Specialist, Head of Department

    Nishad Avari

    Specialist, Head of Department

    navari@christies.com+1 212 636 2190

    Nishad Avari is Specialist, Head of Department for South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art at Christie’s New York. Mr. Avari joined the South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Department at Christie’s as an Associate Specialist in 2013, with more than eight years of auction experience in New York and Mumbai. In addition to his previous role as Associate Vice President and Specialist in Modern and Contemporary Indian Art at Saffronart, Mr. Avari also served as Editor, handling cataloguing, research and content for the auction house. Prior to joining the auction world, Mr. Avari worked with the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, during the seminal international exhibition, Picasso: Metamorphoses 1900–1972. Since graduating from Macalester College, Minnesota with a dual degree in Political Science and International Studies, Mr. Avari has contributed articles and essays to exhibition catalogues, scholarly journals and news publications. In 2017, Mr. Avari relocated to New York head Christie’s auctions of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art there.

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    Anita Mehta

    Sale Coordinator

    Anita Mehta

    Sale Coordinator

    amehta@Christies.com+1 212 636 2190

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    Raagini Pareek

    Cataloguer

    Raagini Pareek

    Cataloguer

    rpareek@christies.com+1 212 641 3736

    Raagini Pareek is a Cataloguer with the South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art department in New York. After graduating from New York University with a BA in psychology and minors in art history and economics, she joined the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF) in Mumbai as an intern working with their modern and contemporary Indian art collection. During her time at the JNAF, Raagini worked on two exhibitions, the modern S.H. Raza: Zamin and the contemporary Woman Is As Woman Does. Following this, she went on to hold a curatorial internship at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in the Department of Asian Art, where she researched ancient Buddhist Art and assisted with the 2023 exhibition “Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE-400BCE”. Now, in her role as a cataloguer at Christie’s, Raagini has returned to South Asian modern and contemporary art, and is responsible for researching and cataloguing all the works of art that come through the department.

• London

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    Damian Vesey

    International Specialist

    Damian Vesey

    International Specialist

    dvesey@christies.com+44 (0)20 7389 2106

    Damian is the Head of Sale for Contemporary Indian Art at Christie’s, based in London, having joined the department in 2011. Following his BA (Hons) in History of Art at the University of Nottingham, Damian worked for DEVI Art Foundation in Delhi. He subsequently returned to London where he went on to receive his MA with Distinction from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in Contemporary Art with his thesis focus on Indian contemporary art and national identity. Damian has more recently given lectures on Modern and Contemporary Indian art at academic instructions and museums including SOAS and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

• Mumbai

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    Sonal Singh

    Managing Director, India and Senior Specialist

    Sonal Singh

    Managing Director, India and Senior Specialist

    ssingh@christies.com+91 91 3669 2934

    Sonal joined Christie’s Modern and Contemporary Indian department in 2007, bringing over ten years of work experience in the art industry. Based in Mumbai, she travels frequently, having formed close relationships with members of the art community in India and Pakistan. She often contributes articles on Indian art to national magazines and newspapers and is frequently invited to give lectures. She also works closely with the Asian Contemporary Art department in Hong Kong to create a wider awareness of South Asian art in the region. Prior to Christie’s, Sonal was a Director of Bodhi Art. She worked closely with many of India’s leading artists including: Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Subodh Gupta and N.S. Harsha amongst others. She holds a Master’s degree with distinction in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London, where she specialised in the Indian art market. Sonal has also studied design at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London; and Modern and Contemporary art history at Christie’s Education, London.