At Rajiv Menon Contemporary in Los Angeles, South Asian artists transform into main characters

The gallery’s inaugural exhibition, EXHIBITIONISM, brings together 19 South Asian artists whose works explore themes of visibility, intimacy and identity. But beyond its role as an exhibition space, Menon sees the gallery as part of a broader cultural moment. “Indian Americans and wider South Asian Americans are culturally coming of age,” he explains. “We’ve only really been able to immigrate in large numbers since 1965 and are now starting to enter positions of leadership—not just in medicine and law, but in politics, Silicon Valley, tech and Hollywood.” This shift, he argues, has created a new kind of cultural confidence—one where South Asians are no longer proving their belonging but actively shaping mainstream narratives.

Menon’s vision extends beyond simply exhibiting South Asian artists. His goal is to foster a community that connects artists with collectors, cultural institutions and, crucially, each other. “I think what art has done is provide completely new approaches to representation,” he shares. “Rather than wanting to recreate our culture with pure accuracy or familiarity, artists are constantly showing us things we’ve never seen before. That sense of possibility and imagination is so exciting among this community.” While South Asian culture has long been celebrated in literature, fashion and film, contemporary visual art has often been left out of the conversation—something Menon is determined to change. “In LA, you can see art from Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and East Asia, but no one was really speaking to South Asia. And yet, the audience’s palette was already fundamentally global.”