This article discusses the phenomenon of contemporary art which is a bearer of the present and lacks definition. It can only be understood obliquely through various forms, mediums and discourses, through which it is presented, mediated and evaluated—contemporary art is experienced, not defined. Therefore, the purpose of this article is threefold—first, to describe the phenomenon and forms in which contemporary art is embedded; second, to articulate what it means to be contemporary in India; and third, to discuss the works of Archana Hande and Suresh Kumar, two Indian artists who engage with the contemporary not as a mimesis of dominant forms of our time, but as artists who are on top of their circumstances.
