Gallerie Nvya Presents What the Light Remembers A solo exhibition of recent works by Riddhi Shah

Title: What the Light Remembers 

Dates: 26th September – 15th November 2026
Venue: Gallerie Nvya, Saket, New Delhi

New Delhi | 2026: Gallerie Nvya presents What the Light Remembers, a monographic exhibition of recent works by artist Riddhi Shah.  The exhibition will be open to the public from 25th September to 15th November 2026 at the gallery’s Saket space. 

Working in gouache, watercolour, gold pigment and walnut stain on Sanganeri and acid-free paper, Shah brings together two seemingly distinct vocabularies in this body of work, namely the geometric precision of the jaali and the generative structures of the natural world, exploring memory not as a fixed record of the past, but as something fugitive, selective and continually reconstructed. 

The jaali, long used across the architecture of the Indian subcontinent as a window, screen and spatial divider, becomes in Shah’s hands both a formal device and a way of thinking. In works such as Champa Outside My Window, Nilgiri and Krishna Kamal, paper-cut jaali patterns are set in conversation with painted botanical imagery. Shah cuts away sections of the paper itself, introducing literal absence into the composition so that negative space becomes as material as the painted surface. The resulting works shift with light, shadow and the viewer’s position, echoing the way memory reveals as much as it withholds. 

Shah’s process begins on Sanganeri wasli, a layered paper historically tied to Indian painting traditions. Gouache lends precision and opacity; watercolour allows translucency and diffusion; walnut stain, behaving with partial unpredictability, leaves blooms and gradations across the surface reminiscent of age and weathering. Gold pigment recalls the illuminated margins of Mughal miniature painting, in which botanical ornament frequently expanded beyond the border to become part of the image itself a historical relationship Shah reworks throughout the exhibition. 

Running through the show is a broader inquiry into pattern and freedom: whether the recurring structures found in nature, such as phyllotaxis, radial symmetry, branching systems, and the parallel inherited structures, habits, and histories that shape human life, and whether freedom lies not in the absence of structure but in the openings that a structure makes possible. 

Reflecting on the exhibit, Riddhi Shah, artist, said:

“John Berger once said, what we see and what we know is never settled. I find myself coming back to this thought quite often in my practice. For me, memory works in much the same way. What we remember is never completely fixed; it shifts with time, some details become clearer, others slowly disappear, and sometimes what remains is only a fragment.”

Meher Kalra, Executive Director, Gallerie Nvya, added:

“What strikes me most in Riddhi’s paper work is how much lives in that surface gouache for weight, watercolour for air, and walnut stain finding its own path across the wasli. Then there is the cutting, which is so precise and unhurried, taking away as much as it gives. Nothing on that paper sits still; a flower or a fragment of a screen changes depending on the wall behind it, the light in the room, and where you’re standing. That’s what makes the paper work, for me, the quiet core of this show.”

About the Artist

Riddhi Shah (b. 1987) completed her M.V.A. in Painting (2011) and B.V.A. in Painting (2009) at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda, where she continues to live and work. She is the recipient of the Nasreen Mohammadie Award (2009) and the Kalpana Reddy Award for Photography (2011) and held a Ministry of Culture scholarship from 2013 to 2015. Her residencies include The Last Ship Residency, Mumbai (2011), and the Niv Art Residency, Delhi (2012). Shah’s work has been exhibited widely, including at the India Art Fair, New Delhi (2014, 2024); Art Chennai (2014); the Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata (2015); Shared Geometries at The Lodhi, New Delhi (2020); Art Dubai (2020); Art Singapore (2025); and Moving Archives at Bikaner House, New Delhi (2025). 

About Gallerie Nvya

Founded in 2004 by Mrs Tripat Kalra and now led by Executive Director Mrs Meher Kalra, Gallerie Nvya has established itself as an important platform for modern and contemporary art in India. Over the past two decades, the gallery has balanced the presentation of senior masters with the discovery and nurturing of emerging artistic voices, building a programme that moves between historical depth and contemporary experimentation. From its beginnings in Friends Colony, New Delhi, Nvya expanded into multiple spaces, including Saket, Triveni Kala Sangam, airport lounges, hotels, and corporate environments, rethinking how and where art may be encountered beyond the conventional gallery setting. Through exhibitions, publications, collaborations, art fairs, and advisory projects, the gallery has contributed significantly to contemporary art discourse in India. 

As it enters its post-2025 phase following 21 years of activity, Nvya positions itself as a wider cultural platform committed to promoting contemporary Indian art within India and internationally while cultivating the next generation of artists, curators, and writers. With a renewed focus on innovative curatorial practices, critical engagement, preservation, and global dialogue, the gallery continues to evolve in response to changing artistic and cultural landscapes while fostering meaningful connections between art and contemporary life. 

Fact Sheet

On view: 26th September – 15th November 2026

Time: 11 AM – 7 PM 

Venue: Gallerie Nvya, 101–103, Square One Designer Arcade, C-2, District Centre, Saket, New Delhi – 110017.