Rithika Merchant
Pillars of 
Fruit and Bone
TARQ Gallery
Mumbai

It is difficult to navigate a city like Mumbai without thinking about dystopia. The constant reminder of decay is present in the crumbling buildings and roads and the filthy sea, churning out endless amounts of plastic waste before your eyes. In a relatively quiet corner of the city, however, sits TARQ Gallery, a small exhibition space that hosted Rithika Merchant’s latest show, “Pillars of Fruit and Bone.” Stepping into TARQ was like entering a reassuring haven amid the city’s pollution and chaos even though Merchant’s art grapples with climate anxiety and ideas of our collective future. Her paintings, primarily done in watercolor, gouache, and ink with collage detailing, subvert expectations of a post-apocalyptic existence and Merchant herself describes her worldbuilding as an “act of self-soothing.” The art is therefore brimming with hope and delight.