On 23rd August 2025, Lovable Rebels saw the opening of its first curated group show “Under the Skin of Things,” featuring the works of Harshita Sharma, Hansraj Dochaniya, Linh Ton, Ranjan Bordoloi, Saruha Kilaru, and “At The Market,” a collaborative project by Deeksha Bhutani and Yatin Srivastava.

While this Gurgaon-based studio, helmed by Shreya Josh, may have begun in 2023 as a space characterized by its focus on body art practices such as stick and poke tattoos and tooth gems, its integration of a broader curation of music and visual arts stems from its grounded and intimate approach prioritizing the fostering of a shared community. Many creatives across Delhi NCR sporting body art will have a story to share behind at least one that came from a resident tattoo artist at Lovable Rebels.

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With branching out towards a curated art show at Lovable Rebels, there’s a marked difference in how it unfolds within an independent space as compared to a more institutionalized gallery set up, in a manner best encapsulated by the evening of the preview itself.

Though the buzz of chatter is not unfamiliar to the opening night of any exhibition, there’s a certain element of warmth that sets it apart. Perhaps it’s that there’s little room to raise an eyebrow at presenting in a more alternative or nonconformative style in a space which can trace its roots and be identified by the radical practice of body art.

This principle plays its role in elevating the curation of “Under the Skin of Things”, evoking the essence of an idiosyncratically stylish living room populated by interesting people and their equally interesting art. In the case of an artist such as Ranjan Bordoloi, his functional art pieces, with one that can be used as a stool in a flourish, add to the general ambiance of approachability. Similarly, Deeksha Bhutani and Yatin Srivastava’s piece with “At The Market” finds the textile flowers merrily subtracted to pin to fascinated attendees’ shirts, allowing them to leave with an intricate memorabilia from the evening.

Photo courtesy of Lovable Rebels

In further conversing with the showcasing artists, the common threads of a shared context come to the fore. As emerging artists in the current climate, their diverging thematic focal points come together at the confluence of living in a post-pandemic world and how the experience has shaped them, and thus their respective crafts.

While for Harshita Sharma, it has been a unique period that has honed her perspective to interpersonal dynamics and how she portrays them in her art, it has simultaneously been one that has prompted reflection upon the distinction between the path of commercial photography and that which is more inclined to his own creative sensibilities for Hansraj Dochaniya. It’s also an episode that sparked an interest towards environmentally oriented mediums such as glass for Saruha Kilaru or ceramics for Linh Ton. In illustrating an underlying influence, the myriad ways in which this repertoire of visual artists showcase their distinctive styles becomes all the more noteworthy.

Photo courtesy of Lovable Rebels

As the drinks are poured and the night wears on, strangers turn out to be friends of friends, and later yet, friends of one’s own in the growing microcosm of the emerging creative circuit of Delhi NCR — one that has found its home in a place like Lovable Rebels as well.

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