Featuring Chennai Art-port, MIND Show, Pencil to Portfolio and more..

NEWS


The Mind  - Modernist In Demand 2013 Show

Open Palm Court Gallery, of the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, presents a unique show, titled, ‘Mind – Modernist in Demand 2013’ a group art exhibition of drawings, paintings, graphics, photographs, sculptures and digital art by modern and abstract artists. 

The exhibition revolves around the idea of natural, social or emotional limitations of human mind and social living and the desire to go beyond to liberation. The works highlight the limitations of space, time, mind and social cultural truths, natural or man-made limitations 
and how to go beyond them.

Some of the artists participating in the show are Adittee Garg, Amita, Balwinder Tanwar, Charu Goel, Harminder Singh, Kishore Shanker, Lohit Sharma, Mahmood Ahmad, N P Pandey, Nirmal Thakur, Ravindra Tanwar and Vipin Kumar.

The show is on view till the 17th July 2013.

The Chirontan Art Group Show

The Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, presents a group show of artworks by the artists of the Chirontan Art Group. The works on display are rendered in bold strokes and vibrant colours, in oil and acrylics. The show displays works of the artists' group made over the year.

The show displays works of upcoming and established artists in various styles. The show is on view till the 20th of July 2013.

Healing Monsoon Show

Lokayata Artists Gallery, New Delhi and The Palette Group presents an art show of art works by a number of artists. “Healing Monsoon” is an effort to promote art work and at the same time offering some support and help to the victims of the recent Uttarakhand tragedy.

Fifty percent of the sales will go to the Prime Minister National Relief Fund for the help of the victims and their families.

This exhibition will showcase art works by Antika Gupta, Parul Solanki, Jyotika Vijay, Rinku Kumar, Riya Gupta, Shilpa Jain, Soni, Vipin Sharma, Mridul Garg and other artists. 

The show is on till the 17th of July 2013.

Pencil to Portfolio Arts Programme

‘Pencil to Portfolio’ is an Intensive Visual Arts Programme for young adults aged between 12 and 18. The course curriculum has been designed by the Sunaparanta - Goa Centre for the Arts, in collaboration with senior Artist Rajendra Usapkar. 

Students will be introduced to various mediums like pencil, charcoal, watercolours, oil pastels, acrylic and will work on paper and canvas. They will also be introduced to mono printing and wood cuts. 

Apt for students from the field of Art, Architecture or Design, the basic course will be followed by advanced levels in the subsequent years.

For more information email at info@sgcfa.org 

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

The Chennai Art-port

The new airport’s domestic and international terminals are home to 34 murals and sculptures

(A boat sculpture)

At the new Chennai airport’s domestic terminal, a horse sculpture in the departure section vies for attention. While the motif is old — something we have seen along with majestic sword wielding Ayyanars while leaving or entering a typical Tamil Nadu village — the form and the medium are new. This sculpture is a part of the 34 pieces of art (32 murals and 2 sculptures) that dot the new Chennai airport across its domestic and international gates. “Every gate has two murals and there are four arrival and four departure gates at the domestic and international terminals,” says Ravi Dhanda, partner, The Gallery Sunny Sistems, the art gallery that has executed all the installations at the airport.

Going through a rigorous selection process and competing with other galleries, Sunny Sistems presented a proposal to a high-level team, constituted by the Airport Authorities of India at Delhi. “We were one of the seven companies shortlisted as a vendor for the project and at the end of the ‘competition’ were awarded the contract for the artwork at the Chennai International and Domestic Airport based on the theme ‘Tamil Nadu — warm climes and warmer people,’” says Ravi. The works reflect Tamil Nadu’s rich folk culture and range in size from 49 feet x 8 feet to 9 feet x 4 feet. “These are arguably among the largest to occupy a public space in this city and the fact that the government has taken this step reflects positively on its attitude towards art,” adds Ravi.

The team involved

(Mural depicting Tamil Nadu folk art forms)

A team of artists, including Manisha Raju, Durshettiwar Raju, Shivram, Suresh and Isaac worked with the Dhandas to come up with a ‘sensible’ proposal. “We presented sketches and models to the authorities to help them visualise the end products,” says Neelam Dhanda who is also a partner of the gallery. Manisha Raju explains, “We spent a lot of time on the ideation process. As artists, we all had to set aside our personal choices and work on it as a ‘theme’. We also had to avoid themes that have already been executed like meditation and peace in other airports. Chennai’s culture seemed like the most logical choice for all the installations, because people are so connected to culture here and have most wonderfully balanced it with the demands of the modern world.” Adds, artist Shivram, “I have travelled across Tamil Nadu, and was able to help the team with the right kind of sketches that represent our culture. I have spent my career capturing our heritage through art and I think this exercise at the Chennai Airport too, achieves the same thing. They could have easily ‘decorated’ the space with meaningless nothings in the name of beautification. Instead, there are now art installations that offer people a clear portrait of our heritage.” “Art in a public space is perceived very differently than art in a gallery. Here, the public feels a sense of ownership and we had to visualise what people would like to see,” says Ravi adding, “Tamil Nadu has a rich heritage in dance, art and music. The Tamil people are very rooted in their culture and take pride in their architecture and temples. We wanted the art work to reflect this while also creating fascination and intrigue for first-time tourists and bringing up fond memories in those who return to the State on visits. ”

(The Horse sculpture)

While the arrival gates feature colourful visuals of folk forms, the other murals are all in the grey-silver-black colour scheme. “The murals with a grey colour scheme are mounted against a grey wall and it almost seems like the art work is emerging out of the wall,” says Ravi. The gallery formed teams of eight, each featuring four artists, working at various locations over a period of three months on these murals.

Horse sculpture

(Mural of an elephant blessing a child)

Besides the horse, the domestic terminal is also home to the sculpture of a boat reflecting the State’s coastline. “The horse sculpture features 200-odd pieces put together, each intricately hand-worked, and we have used a lot of contemporary ‘Madras’ art elements in our murals,” he says. For the wall murals, the basic sketching was done by an artist, and then artisans created a clay model of it and poured Plaster of Paris creating a ‘negative’ cast. Plastic and glass wool (which is fibre glass) was then poured into the cast to create the final piece. “We also engaged welding experts, who have so far only done gates and rods, to create art by just welding!” says Ravi. These images, depicting scenes from temples while the presiding deity is being taken out in a procession with dancers and musicians, are placed above the air-conditioning duct near the VIP areas. “These murals at the international gate have a national flavour,” he adds, before signing off.

(Report by Lakshmi Krupa for The Hindu)