Esquire Art Hotlist: Must-See Art Exhibitions and Shows This August

Art this month is celebrating an array of artistic expressions from Harpreet Narula's solo debut that draws on decades of experience with fabric, pattern and craftsmanship through abstract paintings to commemorating late award-winning artist Satish Gujral's exhibition organised by daughter Raseel Gujral that features a rare self-portrait painted by Gujral around 2010—one of only about four self-portraits from his entire oeuvre.

As usual, Esquire India has put together a list of must-visit art exhibitions across many Indian cities for art enthusiasts who enjoy spending their days beyond regular cafe and restaurant visits. Here are some of the hot picks for your reference mentioned below:

When: 31 July to 17 August 2026

Where: Latitude 28, New Delhi

A solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Monali Meher, Walking Root Route brings her works across sculpture, installation, drawing, textile, photography, and video and explores migration, memory, and the relationships between people, place, and the natural world.

When: 24th July to 16th August

Where: 47 A, Khotachiwadi, Mumbai

Known for her layered, sculptural approach to architecture, interiors and collectible design, Hyderabad-based architect and designer Sona Reddy presents Rooted which unfolds through fragments of observation gathered over time.

An illustrated botany book of flowers, the rhythm of Madras checks, and the colours, textures and visual language encountered in everyday life become points of departure, gradually distilled into a contemporary collection of furniture and objects.

When: 13 August - 30 September 2026

Where:  Antarang Art Gallery, The Camellias, Gurugram

Resonance: The Foundation Edition marks the beginning of Antarang Art Gallery’s annual exhibition that features works by Modern and Contemporary South Asian artists Akkitham Narayanan, Anupam Sud, Bhuri Bai, F.N. Souza, K.H. Ara, Krishen Khanna, Manu Parekh, M.F. Husain, Paramjit Singh, Paresh Maity, Seema Kohli, S.H. Raza, Shobha Broota, Sunil Das, T. Vaikuntam and Zarina (Hashmi).

The exhibition reflects a vision to create meaningful encounters with art that go beyond viewing and encourage dialogue, curiosity and community. Bringing together works by some of India’s most celebrated modern and contemporary artists, alongside an interactive experience with Seema Kohli, the exhibition celebrates both artistic excellence and shared participation.

When: 9 August to 18 September 2026

Where: Emami Art, Kolkata

The New in the Everyday — a solo exhibition by Kolkata-based artist Soma Das, exploring everyday life and the quiet resilience of working and middle-class communities through paintings, sculptures, textiles, and mixed-media works.

When: Until 29th August 2026

Where: Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai

In Asymmetrical Synthesis, Kolte offers an array of sounds, movements and actions: interspersed, intermixed and improvised as a soliloquy of multiple selves within a singular consciousness.

Drawing from Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, the concept of “asymmetrical synthesis” allows for the coexistence of contradictory elements without an apparent balance, harmony and unity. Instead “asymmetrical synthesis” affirms the possibility of divergent elements to exist in a dynamic, unequal flux, making room for the unknown to subsist alongside the known, both independent of the other.

When:7 August to 7 September 2026

Where: Bihar Museum, Patna

Kaghaz Ki Kashti – Retracing Memories of Boyhood is a major retrospective by acclaimed contemporary sculptor Rajesh Ram, presented in collaboration with Bihar Museum. Drawing from memories of his childhood in rural Jharkhand, the exhibition traces Ram's journey from village life to one of India's most distinctive sculptural practices, through recurring motifs of paper boats, rivers, trees, birds, and everyday rural life, exploring memory, ecology, migration, and the connection between people and place.

When: 03 August to 21 August 2026

Where: Art Explore, New Delhi

A celebrated couturier Harpreet Narula's solo debut as a contemporary artist, curated by Vikram Singh draws on decades of experience with fabric, pattern, and craftsmanship. His abstract paintings draw inspiration from the frescoes of Shekhawati and the painted havelis of Rajasthan and Punjab, exploring repetition as a meditative process through which memory, material, and place take form.

When: Until 21 August 2026

Where: Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai

Elizabeth and Iftikhar Dadi’s new work merges ideas that are often treated as opposites: the mysteries of creation and the practical work of manufacturing; useful objects and decorative forms; the polished appearance of the new and the traces of time left behind by forms of production that have faded from view in the post-industrial world but remain active, often invisibly, within the informal economies of the Global South.

The series consists of glossy diasec prints depicting machines isolated against circular fields of color. The prints themselves are shaped like ornamental forms, immediately bringing together the mechanical and the decorative.

When: 8 August to 25 August 2026

Where: Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai

Contemporary Now (Edition III) a city-wide contemporary art platform bringing together India's leading galleries across Chennai, built around the curatorial theme "Practices in Continuum: Tracing the Present." Spanning 20 days, 66 artists, and 10+ venues, the edition presents exhibitions, panel discussions, artist walkthroughs, and workshops exploring memory, identity, ecology, migration, and materiality.