Indian art galleries have undergone a radical revolution.Today, one room is not enough. A gallery requires infrastructure, including a roster of critics, curators and a set of people in the art world who will keep the registers ringing.

‘International auctions and the new market revolution have brought about a complete change in the way of functioning, as well as in the efficacy of a gallery’s principles and objectives of what it can offer to an artist and a buyer,’ said Projjal Dutta, director of New York’s Arts India.

Anjolie Ela Menon’s exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco is a case in point.

‘A six-month solo show at an avante garde museum is a dream for any artist,’ Menon told IANS after returning from the historic showing.

‘More than that, there were so many people who kept asking if the catalogue had a price tag because here was a catalogue that was like a book - hard cover and all the trappings of a book! It was absolutely amazing!’ said an empowered and inspired Menon.

‘Galleries too have had to cope and actually move ahead of the times,’ Menon pointed out, adding: ‘I remember there were times when a gallery felt there was no need to spend so much on a catalogue. Now a catalogue distinguishes a gallery.

‘I think Indian galleries are gaining in professionalism in the way they function and in their efficiency,’ Menon contended.

In the Indian art world, businesses are changing at high speed because of competition.

‘If they don’t change rapidly, they will die,’ the artist contended, saying ‘you can enjoy a ride on the high wave but you have to work hard to keep at it!’

Then, the growing intangibility of wealth and importance of knowledge will compel redefinition of the very term efficiency - and that example must be drawn from galleries like Vadehras (Delhi), Sakshi (Mumbai), and Bodhi Art (Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore and soon to be New York).

‘Bodhi Art’s ethos is driven by the measure of a sense of commitment and professionalism,’ said its Singapore director Renuka Khilnani.

‘From the word go, we look at high end customers as well as artists. Over two years, we have also looked at initiating and sponsoring artistic collaborations that have tried to push the technical and aesthetic frontiers of artistic practice as we did in the case of (Indian artist) Atul Dodiya at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute,’ Khilnani added.

For the first time, galleries like Bodhi Art are increasingly aiming at collaborations that offer unique opportunities to pursue new and innovative techniques amongst artists so that the experience can open doors to higher levels of development.

‘Today art is aimed at modifying our minds, memories, perceptions, personalities, and possibly our souls,’ said top Indian painter Tyeb Mehta.

‘We have to seek the right art and the right gallery. Today a gallery must project itself as a trusted brand,’ he added.