“Why can’t a South Asian gallery be the most exciting gallery in LA?”

Name: Rajiv Menon 

Location: Los Angeles 

Profession: Gallerist

Why you should care: Since the launch of his eponymous gallery, Rajiv Menon Contemporary, Menon has become a force to be reckoned with in the international art scene, shining a light on South Asian artists from the mainland and the diaspora on global platforms of repute. 

From championing artists like Tarini Sethi and Viraj Khanna in global forums like Art Basel Miami (where even a few years ago, the presence of contemporary South Asian art was abysmally low), Menon has gone ahead with international collaborations, including his gallery’s most recent art curation project for London-based chain Dishoom’s latest bed-and-breakfast hospitality project. “I really want the gallery to be a space that centralises South Asian perspectives on their own terms but can be accessed by everybody,” says Menon. “It is a constant balancing act.”

The second solo presentation of his LA gallery and Khanna’s international solo debut—titled Why Did I Say Yes?—is a satirical takedown of the messy madness of the Indian wedding with all its warmth, soul, and just a pinch of zing on the side.

On discovering a world beyond: “I did my PhD at New York University under the English department, but my focus was visual and pop culture. So, I wrote a lot about film, television, advertising, and literature, of course, but also contemporary art. New York itself was an education for me. I arrived there in my twenties, so hungry for culture in all its forms that I was running around wild, absorbing everything I could, from galleries to fashion shows, to get a taste of global culture.”

On falling in love with art: “Shazia Sikandar and Chitra Ganesh were the two artists who really showed me what was possible. I grew up in Houston, where Shazia did a residency, and that was the first time I encountered a US-based South Asian artist in my childhood. It stuck with me, and I have followed her work since. When I finally moved to New York, I was also really interested in artists that were working in India, like Pushpamala N. I was completely taken in by her work in the field of performance photography.”

A South Asian gallery for South Asian art? In Los Angeles? How? “I had moved to LA to work in entertainment and was struck by the way influencer culture had become a major pivot for the way South Asian people in the West were presenting themselves. I found it troubling—the way the visual arts were being left out of the conversation with a focus only on fun, consumable, relatable digital content with barely any engagement with works of contemporary artists.

So, I wanted to create a space that was a counterbalance and, in the process, create the gallery that I wasn’t seeing around as an art enthusiast. Before, whenever I would see South Asian art in LA, it would be completely decontextualised, with no engagement with the cultural context.”

Meeting Viraj Khanna and his eccentric world of art: “I had seen his work on Instagram, but Viraj’s works never fully translate into images. You have to experience them in person because of their physicality and how texturally rich they are. When I finally saw them, I realised they were representative of so much that I’m interested in—especially the rise of post-liberalisation Indian consumer culture. But at the same time, I also love his work with kaarigars, promoting heritage embroidery techniques. We met at the India Art Fair, and we immediately got along. Curating this show felt really collaborative, which was exactly what I look to with an artist.”

The genesis of ‘Why Did I Say Yes?’: “We had a real breakout moment for Viraj in Art Basel Miami last year, where our booth sold out, and he created such an impression on the American audiences. We started this time with Viraj sharing stories about this incredible insider perspective he had about the wedding industry. I’m a big believer that if you are an insider and you have special access to certain cultural worlds, you need to do something productive with it, and Viraj did exactly that.

I grew up going to Malayali weddings in my family mostly, which are often very simple and sombre. I remember flying to India for a wedding and being like, we flew across the world for this?! This is not the Indian wedding I was promised, because it was over in like 10 minutes! But there is this Western obsession with Indian weddings as if it’s an incredible tourist experience that they’ve missed out on.

With this show, I wanted people to think about it in a more nuanced, less consumerist way, while also still celebrating the artistry that goes behind it. We wanted to not only show that this as a place of real cultural pride and strength but also the messiness, drama and human emotion, which the captions bring out with beautiful satire.”

Artists you are looking out for: “I love keeping an eye on upcoming graduates. In 2026, I’ll be doing a lot of graduate shows across the globe, going to new cities, and meeting new faces.”

The future of RMC: I want to be part of a bigger cultural movement where the visual arts are in dialogue with the larger culture. I see this incredible rise of South Asian culture in the US right now, and I want to be part of that larger movement. It’s really, really hard not to think about the impact that Zohran Mamdani is having right now but also just even more broadly think about Semma being the number one restaurant in New York! South Asia is shaping the American mainstream in a way that I’m experiencing for the first time in my life.

Everyone talks about Hot Girl Summer, then there was Barbie Summer, and last year it was Brat. As wary as I am of representation-matters politics, I am inclined to think that we are embracing Brown Boy Summer this time. If a South Indian restaurant can be the best restaurant in Manhattan, why can’t a South Asian gallery be the most exciting gallery in LA?”