Gallery Chemould was founded in Bombay in 1963 by Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy as one of India’s oldest commercial art spaces, and it has nurtured and represented many of the country’s leading artists since then.
During its 46-year tenure on the first floor of Bombay’s Jehangir Art Gallery, Gallery Chemould held the historic, first solo exhibitions of several generations of India’s most prominent artists, including Tyeb Mehta, Bhupen Khakhar, Nalini Malani, Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, and Jitish Kallat.
In 2007, Chemould Prescott Road, moved into a large loft-like space remaining in the center of the city and continuing to be central to the art world.
Under the directorship of Shireen Gandhy since 1988, Gallery Chemould has expanded its roster of artists to represent those working in experimental and alternative media, and its exhibition program spans younger, mid-career, and senior artists.
Recognizing the lack of public support for museums and historically contextualized exhibitions of Contemporary Art in India, Chemould has collaborated with public institutions and galleries in Europe, Australia, and South Africa to present Indian Art at major international venues. Chemould has frequently lent artworks from its private collections for internationally curated shows such as Documenta XII, 2007, showcasing Atul Dodiya’s Antler Anthology, entirely from the collection of the gallery; Horn Please: Narratives in Contemporary Indian Art, curated by Bernhard Fibicher at Kunstmuseum, Bern, 2007; Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves of Art, curated by Wonil Rhee, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, 2007; Chalo India: Contemporary Art from India, 2009, Mori Museum, Japan and traveling; the Indian Highway, which has had an extensive touring around the world, with the work of Hema Upadhyay; L N Tallur at the Asia Pacific Triennal, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
In 2003, Gallery Chemould celebrated its 40th anniversary with Crossing Generations: diVERGE, curated by eminent critic, Geeta Kapur and Professor Chaitanya Sambrani. Hosted by the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, the exhibition highlighted works by four generations of Indian artists represented by Gallery Chemould.
In 2013, Chemould will celebrate 50 years of its existence.
