Viraj Khanna, The Contemporary Indian Artist Turning Digital Life Into Art

The son of celebrated fashion designer Anamika Khanna and an exceptionally talented visual artist in his own right, Viraj Khanna studied Business Administration at the University of Southern California in 2018 before earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2025. While Khanna always nurtured a love for art, he never expected it to become his profession. “Growing up, I always assumed I would handle the business side of our brands, Anamika Khanna and AK-OK, while my brother, Vishesh, focused on design.”

The turning point came during the pandemic. Like many people, Khanna found himself reassessing his priorities and passions during lockdown. “I began creating paper collages for Anamika Khanna’s Instagram page and found myself spending entire days immersed in the process.” What started as a small creative exercise soon evolved into something far more significant. It sparked a curiosity he had never fully explored and led him to recognise an unapologetic love for creating. “That was the beginning of my journey as an artist,” he reflects.

Viraj Khanna, Artist

His love for fine arts naturally made Khanna an avid art collector. Interestingly, much like his own practice, the works he gravitates towards are often figurative. “I often find myself attracted to art that challenges what is easily accepted or comfortably understood by society. The works I admire tend to ask difficult questions, create moments of discomfort, and reveal something deeper about the world we live in,” he tells The Style List. But beyond the works themselves, a larger goal fuels his interest — the desire to support younger artists and give them greater visibility.

Pose After the Joy Ride, a part of Made To Appear, at GR Gallery, New York

His Design Sensibility and First of Many Firsts

Viraj's artistic sensibility has evolved over the years and is shaped by a lifelong exposure to textiles and embroidery. Given his proximity to fashion and exposure to craft traditions from an early age, embroidery became a language he instinctively connected with.“Embroidery feels like a very natural medium for me because I grew up surrounded by it,” he says. “It is one of the most expressive media available. The vast range of materials and techniques it offers allows me to communicate ideas in diverse and nuanced ways.”

His breakthrough arrived in 2021 when Somak Mitra of Gallery Art Exposure offered him a solo exhibition. Recognising his potential, Sanjana Shah of Tao Art Gallery invited him to present another solo show in 2022. Those early shows were incredibly important and played a key role in establishing his practice. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, the young artist has exhibited extensively in India and internationally, with solo exhibitions at Rajiv Menon Contemporary (2025), Gallery Art Exposure, Bikaner House, the India Art Fair (2022), and several others. While India remains home, Viraj believes exhibiting internationally is incredibly exciting. His work has also been featured in group exhibitions at Harper's East Hampton (2024) and Kravets Wehby Gallery (2026), and are a part of collections including The Bunker Art Space, the Diane Allen Collection, and the Michael and Susan Hort Collection in New York. “There is something especially rewarding about watching audiences who don't know you personally engage with the ideas and stories you are trying to communicate,” he says. Yet, for Khanna, the most rewarding aspect is seeing global audiences recognise the skill, labour, and craftsmanship of the Indian artisans he collaborates with.

Viraj Khanna teams up with an artisan to blend textiles and embroidery, creating a one-of-a-kind piece of art alongside Indian craftsmen.

If one were to define Khanna’s practice, it would centre around themes of documentation and performativity in the age of social media. His narrative-driven works examine the images of perfection and the desire to present life's most meaningful moments online. Through intricate three-dimensional threadwork, he transforms these images into dreamlike compositions. Defining his aesthetic, he shares, “My work is primarily figurative, and it often draws from everyday life and contemporary culture, using humour, exaggeration, and moments of familiarity to comment on the world around us. Even when the imagery becomes slightly surreal, I want it to remain accessible and rooted in lived experience.” Yet his style is not confined to a single approach. Viraj continues to embrace experimentation, sharing, "My visual language is constantly evolving because experimentation is a vital part of my practice. I enjoy exploring new materials, techniques, and approaches to storytelling."

The Digital Connect

We live in an increasingly connected world, and Khanna understands that digital culture sits at the centre of contemporary life. Naturally, it serves as a major source of inspiration for his work, and the artist enjoys commenting on it through art. He admits that digital culture occupies a significant portion of his own life, with an average screen time of nearly seven hours a day — a reality familiar to many. "Social media is one of the most powerful and complex forces shaping contemporary life. These platforms are designed to keep us engaged," said Viraj. Reflecting further, he adds, "There have been periods when I stepped away from social media completely and felt calmer, happier, more productive, and more present. At the same time, I have found it difficult to stay away permanently because these platforms have become so deeply woven into our daily routines."

What interests him most is the performative nature of social media. "We are often comparing our lives to carefully curated versions of other people's realities, which can create unrealistic expectations and endless cycles of comparison." Yet that is also what makes social media such a fascinating subject for him to explore as an artist. "It affects all of us, whether we like it or not."

This perspective is visible across much of his work, with Brain Rot serving as a particularly compelling example. The project reflects the way he experiences and interprets social media and technology. It began with embroidered screenshots of Instagram posts featuring stitched faces that highlighted the gap between expectations and reality, transforming post-sharing anxiety into art. The project later expanded to include a wall of screen-time statistics, reflecting the younger generation's average of more than seven hours a day on their phones. Fibreglass sculptures, such as The Best Saturday Night Ever, further explore the contrast between online personas and real-life experiences.

His works frequently explore themes of visibility, validation, and self-presentation while examining the impact of digital culture on everyday life. He is an artist deeply engaged with a hyper-digital world, transforming its complexities into thought-provoking works that question technology's influence on contemporary existence. “Since so much of contemporary life now unfolds online, it feels like a natural subject for my practice,” he concludes.

New Exhibitions

Following years of growing international recognition, Khanna’s latest exhibition, Made To Appear, opened at GR Gallery on June 18, 2026. “My previous body of work explored Indian weddings and the performative spectacle that surrounds them. With Made To Appear, I wanted to take a more direct approach. The works reflect the kind of content many young people are constantly creating and sharing online, as well as my fascination with the gratification that comes from that process,” he explains.

Monday Afternoon, a part of Made To Appear, at GR Gallery, New York

The exhibition is driven by questions surrounding why people feel compelled to document and broadcast certain moments, and what that reveals about changing patterns of consumption, aspiration, and self-presentation. The collection examines a generation increasingly drawn to experiences, pleasure, and instant gratification.

What Lies Ahead

Looking ahead, Viraj believes Indian artists are finally receiving the attention and recognition they deserve. "The world is paying attention, and many artists are exhibiting internationally and participating in major exhibitions around the globe. Galleries and collectors worldwide are increasingly looking towards India, and I believe that interest will continue to grow. There is a real sense of ambition and possibility within the art scene today, and it feels as though we are entering a period in which artists from India will continue to occupy more space on the global stage than ever before."

Reflecting on the broader changes shaping contemporary society, he adds, "India has changed enormously over the past few decades, and naturally, people's consumption patterns have evolved alongside it. Technology and economic growth have dramatically expanded what we have access to and how we engage with the world. I feel fortunate to be able to observe and reflect on these shifts while also being completely immersed in them. The works are, in many ways, a reflection of contemporary society."

Is it finally time for Indian artists to shine on the global stage? Judging by the momentum and growing international interest, it certainly seems that way.