Esquire Recommends: 10 Art Exhibitions You Need to See This Month
Art, identity, and memory collide in a curated list of must-see shows that will elevate your cultural calendar this month
We’re in the middle of April, and as the days stretch on and the air thickens, you might feel the familiar restlessness creeping in. It's the kind of month where the familiar starts to feel a little… beige. The easy routine of bars, dinners, and the usual weekend plans can start to feel a little too predictable. So, why not mix it up this month?
This month, try pointing your compass not towards another crowded bar or a predictable dinner reservation, but towards spaces where silence speaks volumes and colour ignites the mind. Yes, we’re talking about art. That often-misunderstood territory.
Think of it not as an obligation, but as a curated escape, a chance to wander through other people's obsessions, their triumphs, their beautifully rendered anxieties.
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We've sifted through the city's offerings, the whispers and the pronouncements, to bring you a selection that feels less like homework and more like a series of intriguing encounters. From a cinematic romance captured in pigment to a haunting exploration of identity in gleaming surfaces, these exhibits aren't just things to look at; they're conversations waiting to be had, feelings waiting to be felt.
Must-See Art Exhibitions This Month
So, maybe let these artists offer you a different lens on the world, even if just for an afternoon.
Here are the ones we recommend.
The Weight of Love by Varad Bang
April 17 – May 25
Gallery Pristine Contemporary, Delhi
Cinephiles and art lovers, meet in the middle. Varad Bang’s new solo show isn’t just inspired by Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love — it practically breathes the film’s aesthetic. Bang’s works stretch the visual language of longing into pigment and texture, with Sumant Jayakrishnan’s atmospheric spatial design turning the gallery into something between a film set and a dream. It’s moody, lush, and achingly romantic — the kind of exhibition that lingers long after you’ve stepped out into the Delhi heat.
Untamed Heart by Laila Khan Furniturewala
April 15–20
Gallery Art & Soul, Mumbai
Returning after an 18-year hiatus, Laila Khan Furniturewala’s Untamed Heart is a reckoning — with identity, perception, and the many faces we wear. Her reflective portraits invite viewers to quite literally see themselves in her work, rendered in layered pigments and gleaming surfaces. More than a comeback, this show feels like a confessional, set in motion across two contrasting spaces in Mumbai.
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Kindred Dichotomies by Sudhanshu Sutar and Andrea Zucchi
April 10–27
Black Cube Gallery, Delhi
Two artists. Two geographies. One conversation across time. Bhubaneswar-based Sudhanshu Sutar and Milan’s Andrea Zucchi find uncanny synergy in their use of archival material and symbolic imagery. This is art as palimpsest — reworking history to reflect contemporary anxieties. Their pieces flirt with surrealism, but the concerns they raise — memory, continuity, identity — are sharply grounded in today’s fractured world.
We Don’t End at Our Edges by Ravikumar Kashi
March 8 – June 15
Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), Bangalore
Paper is both subject and substance in Ravikumar Kashi’s latest. Known for his conceptual depth, the artist manipulates the material to explore intimacy, language, and belonging. The centrepiece? Kannada alphabets sculpted in pulp — fragile yet resonant. It’s deeply personal, yet universally tender, much like the stories we write between the lines.
Jyoti Bhatt: Through the Line & the Lens
April 12–21 at Bikaner House
April 22–May 25 at Latitude 28, Delhi
If there’s one artist whose legacy deserves more than a retrospective, it’s Jyoti Bhatt. Etchings, serigraphs, personal letters, and candid photographs collide to paint a portrait of the man behind the medium. Curated by Rekha Rodwittiya, the exhibit is as much about Bhatt’s vision as it is about his role in shaping India’s visual history. It's intimate, archival, and quietly radical.
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Cities: Built, Broken by Sudhir Patwardhan
April 16 – June 29
Tri Art and Culture, Kolkata
Few artists document the churn of urban life like Sudhir Patwardhan. His latest show, now in Kolkata after a stint in Delhi, places the working class at the heart of Mumbai’s changing skyline. These are not pretty cityscapes; they’re raw, honest, and steeped in social commentary. Over 75 works — drawings, canvases, studies — provide a sobering look at the metropolis and its invisible engines.
Of Worlds Within Worlds: Gulammohammed Sheikh, A Retrospective
Until June 30
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi
This show is a universe unto itself. Spanning over 190 works and six decades, it’s a deep dive into the polymath that is Gulammohammed Sheikh — poet, painter, critic. From accordion books to digital collages, the retrospective unfolds like a museum within a museum, tracing the evolution of modern Indian art through the lens of one of its most articulate thinkers.
Ya Ghat Bheetar: Rediscovering Form by Haku Shah
Until April 30
Subcontinent Gallery, Mumbai
Launching with quiet elegance, South Bombay’s newest gallery, Subcontinent, opens with a tribute to the late Haku Shah. Rooted in Gujarat’s folk traditions, Shah’s works weave mati (earth), shakti (energy), and memory into vivid, modernist compositions. Curator Jesal Thacker brings out the warmth, wisdom, and resilience embedded in his art — a perfect blend of the earthy and the elevated.
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to Make a Home with You – Art and Charlie, Mumbai
Opened on April 5, 2025, at Art and Charlie, this exhibition explores the concept of ‘home’ beyond just a physical space, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community. Featuring works by Aksh Diwan Garg, Deepak Dhiman, Lakshya Bhargava, Namrata Arjun, and Zoya Lobo, the show delves into themes of belonging, love, and chosen family, highlighting the universal need for acceptance and freedom to be one's authentic self in a fragmented world.
Paper Alchemy: Tracing Memories Through Time
Opening on April 26, 2025, Great Banyan Art’s landmark exhibition, Paper Alchemy: Tracing Memories Through Time, unveils for the first time its private collection of works on paper. Spanning over 100 pieces from the 18th to 21st century, the show examines the paradoxical nature of paper—fragile yet resilient—and its profound role in shaping India’s artistic expression. With works by masters like James Prinsep, M. F. Husain, F. N. Souza, and Atul Dodiya, the exhibition traces the intricate relationship between paper, memory, and history, celebrating how each artist has used its texture to tell stories across generations.