Profile - Vartika Singh, Bombay Landscape, The Voyage and more..

PROFILE

Grasping A Silver Moon Beam  -  Vartika Singh

She lifts her face to the inimitable blue of the sky, her hands gently release the bird. She cranes her delicate neck to see bird wings kiss soft clouds sounding divine symphonies with each flap. Vartika Singh’s women yearn to create such resonating symphonies in their lives as much as they crave for a taste of ‘real’ freedom, a freedom of thought and action, observes Sushma Sabnis.

(Artist Vartika Singh)

With a MFA degree in painting, from the Aligarh Muslim University, Vartika is not the first woman artist to articulate her thoughts and concerns about women and women’s issues. But Vartika delves a lot more deeper than most. She draws inspiration from the women around her. Her neighbours  her relatives and her friends, who, with their very existence and ability to multitask faultlessly, inspire the artist to look into their private lives as women, as individuals.

What she does find however, is a duality, a deep set longing unseen by outsiders and even the people around them. This longing is not a romantic one for a lost love, but for a love much more alluring than the one felt for a person. It is the love for an independence, a longing for freedom of the spirit. Vartika believes women, irrespective of the country or generation they were born in, lead a subtly bridled life. Irrespective of their social standing, professional and personal strength, financial independence, women seem to be bogged down and unable to move to a higher, freer level of existence. 

The artist articulates her empathy for these women through her ongoing series of works titled, ‘Wish I Could Fly, Like You Do’. This recent series focuses primarily on women and their quest for an internal freedom which is as much a tangible reality as is their need for stability in life. The artist paints and draws the protagonist of her works, a woman, in her own distinct figurative style. The woman seems to be seated in most of the paintings, either holding a bird or a strand of beads or a flower. Each of these elements are symbols indicative of the woman’s struggles or her passion and at times her fantasies. 

In all of Vartika’s paintings, the woman depicted is an Indian, saree clad traditional woman. Her forehead is at times smeared with the wedded auspiciousness of red kumkum and she sits on the floor, earthing herself almost with an unshakeable grounded-ness. Like a tree that has its roots clutching the soil, while its leaves rise up to touch the sky, Vartika’s women sometimes, look up in hope and optimism, and at times bow their heads to an invisible burden of a reality, rarely expressed by them.

In one of her soft pastel on paper works, the woman looks at a strand of beads which could be a ceremonial chain/ binding which ties her down, weighing heavy on her conscience. The artist gently brings the viewer’s attention to the woman’s facial expression, which is replete with unanswered questions. The sensitivity in Vartika’s paintings is obvious, but the strokes the artist employs in her works are sharp and almost retaliatory in nature. Somewhere one would see the artist mirroring these women's fragility and helplessness. The need to break free of bonds and bindings of all kinds, physical and mental resonate in her works. 

The works are dominated by two or three colours, red, blue and black. When asked about the specific dominance of these colours, the artist explains the symbolism relevant to her. Blue is the colour of the sky also freedom and flight, red is an important colour in a woman’s life, it could depict auspiciousness and alertness or even danger. It could depict the burning of the earth’s core or an emotion like anger, kept in check in social scenarios. Black lines the white-ness of things, defining them and classifying them as good or bad, day or night, black creates the balance of energies. 

Interestingly, in one of her works on paper, she depicts the woman protagonist sitting looking up at the slice of a midnight moon, her hands have red bangles and ankles have red anklets, the colour oddly quietens the image, especially when the sky has flecks of red mirrored in it. Birds fly in a group in the moonlight and the woman sits silently witnessing, what could only be a night of endless waiting, an empty grasping of a silver moon beam.

Though Vartika’s work concentrates more on women as protagonists, the concept of a personal freedom is more a larger human issue that she addresses. The freedom a human being seeks from social, political, religious, personal and professional bindings or expectations, to breathe free and to be true to one’s own self in thought and action, without obligatory crutches is what the artist seeks to unearth,  a truly independent exalted human spirit.

Vartika  likes to work in the charcoals, soft pastels, acrylic on canvas and on paper, having explored numerous other mediums. Her recent foray into film making and video art has got her recognition as a featured artist in the International Film Festival held at Delhi. With deep insights, a subtle, sensitive expression and keen observation of the world around her, this young artist, promises to shine bright in the future.

Vartika Singh currently lives and works in New Delhi.

NEWS

Two leads to dialogue

Experimenter Kolkata in partnership with Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council presents a video presentation curated by Avijna Bhattacharya and Rikimi Madhukaillya who have been mentored by the Swiss curator, Mirjam Varadinis. 

The idea behind curating a programme of videos with works of Swiss and Indian artists generated from interactions between Mirjam Varadinis, curator, Rikimi Madhukaillya and Avijna Bhattacharya when Pro Helvetia brought them together in New Delhi in 2011.

Over the decades, two dimensional imagery used to propagate thought and artistic ideas has progressed to moving visuals for a more complete experience. In India, we have seen the advent of the television, videos, cam corders, telecasting, cyber spatial interactions, audio-visuals, dvds mobile phone video transmission etc 

The show addresses the changes over the years as a sort of cultural exchange with the 

two countries,with Swiss and Indian video art as the centre point, and takes off from there for possible collaborative projects and concerns.

The volatile state of ideas which can be largely categorized are videos which are interactive and performance based, videos/short animation films, the videos that have a strong documentary self and the ones which very playfully have erased the borders of drawing individual images and those of moving ones.

The programme is on view till the 25th July 2013.

Couple of Figurations

The Azad Bhavan, Indian Council For Cultural Relations, New Delhi, presents a couple’s show of figurative works.

Delhi based couple Prashant K. Sarkar and Kirti B Sarkar will be exhibiting their collection of paintings. Both Prashant and Kirti have a Bachelors degree in fine arts from College of Art, New Delhi.

Kirti uses a mix of bold colours and intricate designs with a touch of nature in almost all her works. Her artworks have a strong influence of the famous folk art Madhubani style. Her husband Prashant comes from a family of painters, who is also the founder of Kalakriti Foundation, Delhi. 

Prashant’s work also is figurative in style with a lyrical quality to the figures he paints.

The show is on view till the 28th of July 2013.

Bombay Landscape Show

(A work by Tina Chandroji)

The Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai presents a solo show of recent works of artist Tina Chandroji, titled, ‘Bombay Landscape’. 

The paintings rendered in oil on canvas, explore the connection between different businesses, cultures, religions and communities. The businesses picked by the artist include vegetable shop, bakery, flowers' stall and a paan shop. Through various religious symbols, the paintings clearly show how certain businesses are run by people belonging to specific communities.

The works are attentive to detail and at the same time present a holistic view of a business, subtly bringing out the perspectives the artist employs to look at a thing as varied and distracting as a shop laden with goods to be sold.

She presents  a snap shot of Indian culture of the business community and it is a rich and vibrant visual.

The show previewed on 24 July, and the exhibition continues till 10, August 2013.

The Voyage in History

( A work on display at the show)

Sublime Galleria, Bangalore presents a unique show titled, ‘The Voyage’. The show displays works from the collection of art collector Sonu Mirchandani. The works on display are historic maps and ship models from years of collections. Rare maps,historical scaled model ships and voyade memorabilia are on display at the show.

The artist believes that these objects, found and collected over the years are not just art from the past, but also educative history of ancient times, routes, people and customs etc.

Inspired by the book, ‘ The Map’ by Colette Baron Reid, the artist dispalys this collection which inspires her works, and also are a reminder of the 14th to 18th century travels of people from all over the world.

The show is on view till the 10th of August 2013.

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

Autobiografia : Recluse of History, India International Show and more..

NEWS

Autobiografia: Recluse of History

( A self portrait by Felicia Pacanowska)

Art & Soul Gallery, Mumbai presents a group show of exquisite art works by artists from various generations, in a show called ‘ Autobiografia: Recluse of History’. The show traverses generations of autobiographical art works, in the form of drawings, paintings, sketches, books, illustrations etc which are all brought together under the canopy of artistic expressions produced by artists as an intimate response to their situations, social, political and personal.

From the drawings of reclusive woman cubist artist, Felicia Pacanowska, revisiting the town of Lodz,to the Indian coal mines and mill workers of Prabhaker Pachpute’s charcoals, to the photographs and scripts of Amol Patil’s father’s theatre written for the Mumbai mill workers, the exhibition intricately weaves a magnificent tapestry of history and art and human struggle through the difficult times of oppression and change.

Shernavaz Colah’s writing on Sri Lankan artist Justin Daraniyagala during the time of Picasso, F N Souza and M F Hussain, and his short life dedicated to intense art and his suffering before succumbign to tuberculosis, is documented in his numerous drawings and art works.

The featured artists are, Felicia Pacanowska, Shernavaz Colah, Zarina Hashmi, Yogesh Barve, Poonam Jain,Akbar Padamsee, Salvador Dali, Prabhakar Barwe, Jean Louis- Forain, FN Souza, Nikhil Raunak, George Braque, AA Raiba, Prabhakar Pachpute, Amol Patil, Sachine Bonde, Francisco Goya, Mangesh Kapse, Carla Mantenegro. Reproductions by Justin Daraniyagala, M F Husain, Pablo Picasso, Fernando Botero.

Previewing on the 26th July 2013 at 6: 00pm and will be open for viewing.

International Art Expo Call for Artists

International ArtExpo calls for artists to show their talent in the categories of video art, painting, photography, computer graphics, installation art and performing art. The winners of the competition will get to exhibit their works in Venice, Bucharest and Istanbul.

The competition is open for all artists and designers. To take part, one HD image of the work / art work or one video work with a still image is to be sent with the participant’s details to internationalartexpo@gmail.com

The images will be open for a public vote on the 1st of August 2013 on International Art Expo Facebook page. The public vote will  close on 9th August 2013.

The Contest will start only if it reaches a minimum of 30 submissions.

The participant with the highest number of likes on his/her image will take part in the next event organized by International ArtExpo in Venice, Bucharest or Istanbul. The winner has to reach a minimum of 400 likes on his/her image.

The submission deadline for the participation in the competition is the 31st of July 2013.

India International Show

(A work on display)

Apparao Galleries, Chennai, presents a group show of eminent artists works. An extension of the ongoing ‘Temporary Custodians II’ event, the show titled, ‘India International’ displays works of leading names in the art world, from yesteryears and today.

The show brings works which has been in collections with private collectors, and focuses on the range of art produced over decades of varied art practices. The participating artists are Anju Dodiya, Anup Mathew Thomas, Atul Bhalla, Atul Dodiya, A Balasubramaniam, Bhupen Khakkar, N S Harsha, Jitish Kallat, Krishnaraj Chonat, Manisha Parekh, Nalini Malani, Navin Thomas, Reena SAini Kallat, Shibu Natesan, Sudarshan Shetty, Surendra Nair. 

For more information call on: +91 9941012388.

The show will be on view till the 31st of August 2013.

Roti Kapada aur Makaan

1 Shanthi Road Gallery, Bangalore presents a group show titled ‘Roti Kapada Aur Makaan - The Essentials of Living’. The show flags off the culmination of a workshop led by London based photographer Suki Dhanda, with seven photographers, manned with a camera, to explore and shoot the nuances of Bangalore city.

The show is a display of the multiple layers of the garden city as captured by the young photographers. The concept of Homelands, an ongoing collateral event at the British Council, adds to the concepts unearthed in this show by the photographers.

The show is curated by Suki Dhanda and coordinated by Cop Shiva. The participating photographers are, Bharath Haridas, Niranjan H G, Manju Mohanadas, Lekha Naidu, Veena Narasasetty, Sameer Raichur, Karthik K Shetty.

The show previews on the 25th of July 2013 between 6:30 - 9pm and will be on view till the 1st August 2013.


(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)


FEATURE

Personal stories

Uma Gautam’s painting collection Zikr — Remembrance pulls you into a memory

It’s fitting that Uma Gautam’s painting exhibition at Art and Soul Art Gallery on ECR is themed Zikr — Remembrance. The moment and the mood of the canvas pulls you into a memory, and the the words penned on the side (by Uma) capture its essence. Most of Uma’s canvasses are personal, and talk of her journey with her ‘master’. “The theme is mystic, and it depicts my journey with my ‘guru’, which, like any journey, has its ups and downs,” says Uma.

‘And Lotuses Bloom Everywhere You Look’ is of goddess Kali, who sits on her tiger that walks on a bed of lotuses. Her trident forms a lotus bud in between, her crown holds a lotus and so does the pendant of her necklace. Her eyes, too, are like lotuses. Encased in a lotus-pink frame with an ink-blue halo to signify water, the goddess looks on, hand opened in blessing.

“I’m not particularly religious, but these gods don’t just belong in calendars or on walls. They are living masters. I see them as people who lived at one time and were such great masters, that they became god,” she says.

The wiry girl with long, dark hair throws her arms up in resignation. ‘This World — Not Real Enough To Live, Not Unreal Enough To Die’, her eyes are indignant, and there is a halo around her head. Thoughts wriggle out of her mind in long, white strands and other dreams bounce around in white, flowery swirls.

The women in the next canvas are one and yet many. Perhaps it shows different frames of mind, different thoughts and moods. Her hair is silver and curly, and her moods are represented as colours and patterns in small circles on top — ‘One Step And I Will Know There Is No Other’.

You can go on looking at Uma’s picture poetry. Slowly, as you dwell deeper into her words, you find yourself being the girl in the frame, thinking of a distant memory. The words are universally relatable and so is the girl in the frame, looking back through expressive eyes and an enigmatic smile.

‘You Are What You Search For’ is a journey of self-discovery. She is in the centre, surrounded by the elements. For now, she is unsure what she is or if she is all of them — earth, fire, wind and water, surround her in puffs and waves. “Fire signifies purity,” explains Uma, “Similarly, each element signifies a state of mind or a decision.”

There are other inferences too, especially in her rendition of Ardhanarishwar. ‘Only He Can Show Me My Real Face’ has the serene Shiva and a fiery Parvati painted in green. She is part of him and yet, is gazing reverently at him. In another painting, a woman is shown sitting on a carpet, her hands lifted in prayer. Allah, her master, floats above like an iridescent being. Her prayers drizzle down like rain.

“My paintings focus on the eyes because they are the doors to the soul. And so, these are personal stories that look inwards,” adds Uma.

(Zikr is on at Art and Soul Art Gallery, 204-A, East Coast Road, Akkarai, till July 28)

(Report by Anusha Parthasarathy for the Hindu)

Voyage of Exploration, Romanian Art Heist, Open Art Call and more..

NEWS

The Deconstructions Show

The Art Heritage gallery, presents a group show by artists focusing on abstraction.
The show is titled, ‘Deconstructions’ and displays works of emerging artists from the country. Abstraction uses a language very visual, forming line, colour, and form compositions which may or may not ahve any references in the visual world.

Some of the works on display are geometric abstractions while others are colour palette explorations on canvas.

The participating artists are Shabnam Shah, Pallon Daruwala, Anand Prakash, Sanju Jain and Vidya Sagar Singh.

The show is on view till the 14th of August 2013.

A Voyage of Exploration

(An art work on display at the show)

Shrishti Art Gallery, Hyderabad, presents a students group show, titled, ‘Voyage of Exploration’. The show displays works done by the students of final year Master Of Fine Arts ( MFA) program of the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad.

The show displays artworks in the form of paintings, drawings, etchings, sculptures,and installations. 

The participating student artists are Chandan Sikdar, Gagan Bihari Mandal, Markkandu Manokar, Partha Dutta, Prosenjit Pramanikk, Rajani Mudiraj, Sayoni Laha, Samarjeet Behera, Sikan Kumar Panda, Sitaram Swain, Somnath Mondal, Sujit Kumar.Limmala and Sumana Som.

The show is on view till the 25th of July 2013.

Art Call 2013: Artists Most Wanted!

The Genesis Art Gallerie, Bangalore has made an open call for artists. ‘ Art Call 2013: Most Wanted -  Artist under arrest!!’ program. Though a relatively young art space, the Genesis Art Gallerie has huge plans and events planned on promotion of unique talented artists’ artworks.

The Artists Under Arrest program brings out the potential greats of tomorrows art world and hones them in this program by organizing their works for a show. The details of application for the program are as follows. The program forms a platform for all styles of works irrespective of medium used.

A minimum of 5 images of the art works are to be emailed to info@genesisartgallerie.com

Paintings, sculptures, drawings and installation works’ images can be sent.

The chosen artists will be announced on the 5th of August 2013. 

For any further information, one could call on +91-80-26644777.

The last date for application submission is the 31st of July 2013.

Two is creative company

(A work by Mala Marwah on display)

Gallery Espace, New Delhi, presents art works of two senior artists, illustrators and writers. The artists Suddhasattwa Basu and Mala Marwah are the participants of the show.

Suddhasattwa Basu, a painter, illustrator and animation filmmaker, has been teaching Master Degree students Classical Cel Animation (since 1998) as a visiting lecturer at College of Art, New Delhi. He has also been making animation films since 1986. Apart from many ad/ promotional films Mr. Basu also has experience in making of educational films. 

Mala Marwah hails from New Delhi. She acquired a M.F.A. Art History from M.S. University, Baroda, Department of Art History and Aesthetics.Over the years, she has written extensively on Modern Indian Art along with publishing poems and short stories. Her other works include writing and illustrations for children’s magazines.

The show displays some vibrant and exquisite watercolour works on paper, acrylic on paper, pen and ink drawings on paper and canvas by the two established artists.The imagery is gentle and lyrical in themes and style of depiction, figurative and fluid in imagery.

The show previews on the 24th July 2013 from 7 -9 pm and is on view till the 10th of August 2013.

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

Romanian’s Tale Has Art World Fearing the Worst

PARIS — To Olga Dogaru, a lifelong resident of the tiny Romanian village of Carcaliu, the strangely beautiful artworks her son had brought home in a suitcase four months earlier had become a curse.

(Monet's Waterloo Bridge )

No matter, she said, that the works — seven in all — were signed by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Gauguin, Lucian Freud and Meyer de Haan. Her son had just been arrested on suspicion of orchestrating the art robbery of the century: stealing masterpieces in a brazen October night theft rom the Kunsthal  museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

But if the paintings and drawings no longer existed, Radu Dogaru, her son, could be free from prosecution, she reasoned. So Mrs. Dogaru told the police that on a freezing night in February, she placed all seven works — which included Monet’s 1901 “Waterloo Bridge, London”; Gauguin’s 1898 “Girl in Front of Open Window”; and Picasso’s 1971 “Harlequin Head” — in a wood-burning stove used to heat saunas and incinerated them.

Mrs. Dogaru’s confession could be pure invention, and the works could be discovered hidden away somewhere. But this week, after examining ashes from her oven, forensic scientists at Romania’s National History Museum appeared on the verge of confirming the art world’s worst fears: her tale is true.

In total, the works were valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, but for curators and art lovers, their loss would be irreplaceable.“Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling that a huge and horrible crime happened, and the masterpieces were destroyed,” Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, the director of the National History Museum, said in a telephone interview on Thursday. If so, he added, it would be “a barbarian crime against humanity.”

How Picassos, Matisses, Monets and other precious masterpieces may have met a fiery fate in a remote Romanian village, population 3,400, is something the police are still trying to understand. The theft has turned into a compelling and convoluted mystery that underscores the intrigues of the international criminal networks lured by high-priced art and the enormous difficulties involved in storing, selling or otherwise disposing of well-known works after they have been stolen.

As in so many such mesmerizing capers, including an estimated $350 million worth of diamonds stolen from Brussels airport recently, the theft itself is often easier than the fencing. It is a quandary, along with the lengths a mother might go to protect her son, that could help explain Mrs. Dogaru’s desperate actions, if she did what she says she did.

Mr. Oberlander-Tarnoveanu declined to say whether it had been established that the ash found in Mrs. Dogaru’s oven, which the police turned over to his investigative team, was in fact the burned remains of the stolen canvases. “That is for legal authorities to determine,” he said.

But he said his team had discovered material that classical French, Dutch, Spanish and other European artists typically used to prepare canvases for oil painting, as well as the “remains of colors, like red, yellow, green, blue, gray.” The pigments included cinnabar, chromium green and lazurite — a blue-green copper compound — as well as tin-lead yellow, which artists stopped using after the 19th century because of toxicity. In addition, copper nails and tacks made by blacksmiths before the Industrial Revolution and used to tack canvas down were found in the debris. Such items would be nearly impossible to fake, he said.

It would be harder to verify if two other works that were stolen, by Picasso and Matisse, were burned, Mr. Oberlander-Tarnoveanu said. More delicate than the other five works, the two were done in pastels and colored ink on paper. “Unfortunately, it’s impossible to assess those remains,” he said, “because the burned paper was basically turned into pure carbon.”

The stolen works were part of a collection amassed by a Dutch investor, Willem Cordia, that had been exhibited for only a week at the Kunsthal. The police say three men, led by Mr. Dogaru, 28, broke in through an emergency exit and snatched the seven works from the wall in just under two minutes. Mr. Dogaru was arrested in late January in Carcaliu.

The other stolen works were Monet’s “Charing Cross Bridge, London,” painted in 1901; Matisse’s “Reading Girl in White and Yellow” from 1919; and de Haan’s “Self-Portrait” from 1890; and Freud’s 2002 “Woman With Eyes Closed.”

On Thursday, Gabriela Chiru, a spokeswoman for the Romanian public prosecutor, said the authorities were still investigating Mrs. Dogaru’s claims and were waiting to examine the findings produced by the museum’s forensics team. The investigation was expected to take months to complete.

In the absence of more definitive news, Dutch newspapers and some art dealers have speculated that the plunder might have been a contract job orchestrated by underworld figures, with the thieves picking their targets well ahead of time.

What is clear is that the thieves appeared to have been familiar with the security system at the Kunsthal. Shortly after 3 a.m. on Oct. 16, they deactivated it for a few minutes, then broke the lock on an emergency door without triggering alarms, the Dutch police said. The museum’s camera system showed two men entering and leaving in less than 96 seconds, carrying unusually wide backpacks stuffed with the works.

Little is known about what followed, although the Dutch police have said that the works appeared to have been taken directly to a home in Rotterdam.

At some point after that, the Romanian police said, the works made their way to Carcaliu, which Mr. Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, the national museum director, described as “a remote and poor village.”

In late January, the Romanian police raided the homes of Mr. Dogaru and several relatives and acquaintances. Jeichien de Graaff, a spokeswoman for the Rotterdam public prosecutor’s office, said Mr. Dogaru and several other men had been under investigation on other unspecified charges, “and then the Romanian authorities discovered they might be involved in the art theft in Rotterdam.”

Referring to the Dogarus, Mr. Oberlander-Tarnoveanu said, “It seems they were not very honest, because apparently a lot of members of the family had a long judicial history.”

Mr. Dogaru’s arrest appeared to have spurred his mother into action. In her statement to the police, Mrs. Dogaru said she panicked when she realized the works would be used as evidence against her son. With officers combing the village, she told the authorities that she had looked frantically for places to hide the works, which were all in a large plastic bag.

She hid them in various places, including her sister’s home and her garden. Then, she said, she buried them at the village cemetery. But that did not end her anxiety, she told the police.

Fearful that the works could still be discovered, “an idea sprang into my mind,” she told the police, that if they were not found, there would be no evidence against her son and his friends.

In her statement, Mrs. Dogaru said she lighted a fire in the stove and went to the cemetery to get the works. “I put the whole package with the seven paintings, without even opening it, into the stove, and then placed over them some wood and my plastic slippers and waited for them to fully burn,” she said. “The next day I cleaned the stove, took out the ash and placed it in the garden, in a wheelbarrow.”

If her story is true, “then it has extinguished the last remaining glimmer of hope we had that the paintings might be returned,” said Mariette Maaskant, a spokeswoman for the Kunsthal. “We’ve been profoundly distressed by the theft, and the probability of the works being burned only emphasizes the futility of the act.”

Mr. Oberlander-Tarnoveanu said he was trying to stay positive, though his team’s findings looked grim.

“I am holding out hope until the last moment,” he said, “because, you know, we need to keep at least some hope alive.”

George Calin contributed reporting from Bucharest, Romania, and Georgi Kantchev from Paris. 

(Report by Liz Alderman for The New York Times)

How Over Anxiety about Art can cause Death - For both Artists and Critics and more..

EDITORIAL

How Over Anxiety about Art can cause Death - For Both Artists and Critics

In neat pin striped pants, tucked in white shirt, and a waist coat, the artist looks more like a singer than a painter. Old stereotypes are out and new ones are in. I sit there inconspicuously and watch him. My gallerist friend receives him. Before her, quite valiantly, he genuflects, unrolls his works, one by one. She looks at them with studied eyes and looks at my side for an occasional reassurance. I had switched off the sound element from the whole scene. Hence, once the silent charade was over, I could see through my misty glasses, him rolling up his works and putting them in their case. I could also see him picking up a marker pen from his designer leather pouch and signing off a consignment letter with the gallery. A deal has been done. How things have been changed by time! 

Do you remember Mungerilal? Mungerilal ke Haseen Sapne? For the post-Doordarshan kids a little recap. Mungerilal, acted by Raghuvir Yadav is an ordinary man, an office clerk, to be precise. He overcomes his limitations by day dreaming. By the way, this serial was directed by the present day hit maker, Prakash Jha. Raghuvir Yadav, after a hiatus reappeared in Peepli Live with the song ‘Mahangai’. Now I become a Mungerilal. My memories fly back to 1996.

( Raghuveer Yadav in Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne)

I walk into a gallery where some Bhupen Khakkars, A.Ramachandrans, Krishen Khannas and Gulam Mohammed Sheikhs are hung. An elderly lady with her reading specs at the precipice of her nose sits as if even an earthquake would not move her from that posture. She is completely focused on a hardbound ledger. An artist walks in. Phata purana khadi kurta, dusty leather shoes, jhola, the smell of aaloo palak and a lot of humility. He bows before her. She yawns as if she were a bovine bugler. It looks like a pre-planned meeting. I switch off my audio track. The muted scene shows me the young man genuflecting hopelessly and unrolling his works one by one before this lady whose attention has not moved an inch from the ledger. I switch on my audio and I hear this: “agar chaahiye to idhar rakho. Saab aane ke baad aake leke jaao.” (If you want to keep them here do it. When Mr. So and So comes I will show and later you can take it back). The man falls at her feet or does something similar to that effect with his face. I defocus myself and walk out. 

Things have changed for good. Jholawalas have become pinstriped dapper ones. Even when pinstripes are absent they carry off themselves well. They don’t go beyond a point to impress the gallerist or curator. One good thing that has been happening of late is the removal of CDs and DVDs from the whole system exchange. Straight emailing has made things easier. I can say one thing to the artists: Do not be impatient. If you have done your work and sent the images to a few whom you trust or posted in facebook or elsewhere, just wait for the result to come in. A good curator/critic/gallerist/buyer/collector/writer is always on a look out for a fresh work of art; a new approach and a refreshing philosophy. If your work has ‘it’, they get it. A bad critic/curator/gallerist is someone who does not see a good work of art even if it is hung in front of him. They wait for someone to recommend it. They are the kind of people who consult horoscope before making love. Forget them. 

(Writer Anton Chekhov)

The lesson is very simple. Be dignified and be alert. Don’t bend down to get a chance. If your works speak for you, it will definitely take you to that climatic point. I don’t want my artist friends to feel like and die like a government clerk in Anton Chekhov’s story, Death of a Government Clerk. Ivan Dmitritch Tchervyakov is a government clerk. He goes to the music opera and he was in a very blissful state. In between, as it could happen to humans, he felt like sneezing and he did. He politely looked around and made sure that he did not disturb anybody. But suddenly he noticed two rows ahead a bald man wiping his pate and neck with a hand kerchief. To his shock Tchervyakov found out that he was the head of another government department. He went to him and apologized for sneezing. The officer politely accepted the apology and wondered why he apologized to him at all. But Tchervyakov was not happy. He was really worried. He discussed the issue with his wife. Next morning he went to the officer’s home and again apologized. This time he was dismissed without audience. But it increased his anxiety. So he kept on trying to meet the officer. Finally, as he could not tolerate this bugger’s insistence, the officer said, Be out. Tchervyakov came back home, laid down on the sofa and breathed his last. 

Over anxiety about your work of art could at times anger a critic or a gallerist and it could even cause your death. So take it easy. If your work is really good, a sneeze cannot erase it from the face of the earth. 

JohnyML

NEWS

The Svikriti Show

( A photography work at the show)

The Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata presents a group show titled, ‘ Svikriti’, of art works by young artists who have won the annual competition which the academy conducts. Working as a perfect platform to scout for talented young artists from the country, the academy chooses and exhibits the winners’ artworks in a show.

This year in its 46th edition, held in January this year, the chosen winners of the competition are,  Shri Amit Dey (Sculpture), Shri Anirban Sheth (New Media), Shri Arnab Mukherjee (Photograph), Shri Jayraj Singh Parmar (Photograph), Shri Mithun Das (Mixed media painting), Partha Pratim Mondal (Installation), Pradip Mondal (Sculpture), Rajen Mondal (Graphics) and Raju Tota (Acrylic painting).

"Svikriti" is the art exhibition that will showcase the art works of these 9 budding talents full of potentials and possibilities. The show displays prints, paintings, sculptures, photography works and installations.

The show is on view till the 11th of August 2013.

Rejoicing Nature at Alankritha gallery

(A work at the show)

Alankritha Art Gallery, Hyderabad, presents a solo show of works by artist B Kumaraswamy in a show titled, ‘ Rejoicing Nature’. Metaphorical and lyrical the collection that this artist presents lends an air of mystery to the visuals.

The works have been made over a span on a year and depict women and nature in harmony. With an equal mix of warm and cool colours, the artist brings the canvas to life with the symbolism and subtle metaphors.

The brush work is fluid and gentle, capturing the essence of the female forms and the nature they embody. Fantastical muses as they inspire the artist to bring out the concepts of femininity, fertility, beauty, and a genteelness feature in the works.

The show is on view till the 26th of July 2013.

A Show to Rebuild Uttarakhand

( A photography work on display at the show)

Indian August, Noida, presents a show titled, ‘A brand new day -  rebuilding Uttarakhand’. The CAMERAunLIMITED and art space, Indian August in collaboration with Goonj, presents a show for raising funds fort he rehabilitation and relief operations of the Uttarakhand victims and their families.

The show displays works of artists who have volunteered to give their artworks for display and sale purposes. All the collections from the show will go directly to Goonj which is undertaking a major relief operation in the flood affected regions of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.  On display are photographs, paintings and sculptures.

The participating artists are Anamitra Chakladar, Atanu Dey, Shilpi Choudhuri, Yatinder Kumar, Rohit Kumar, Sourabh Gandhi among others.

The show is on till the 5th of August 2013.

Looking In - show

(A work by Lalitha Shankar on display at the show)

Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore presents a solo of artist Lalitha Shankar, an MFA graduate from the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, USA.

The show titled ‘Looking In’, urges the viewer to look into the sculptures. Lalitha’s intention with this series of works, is to literally translate at the physical level, what an individual probably experiences in a contemplative state of mind. 

With simple lines and distinct patina colors on the bronze sculptures, she tries to bring forth the subtle meanings and interpretations of the spiritual concepts of the manifestations in reality and non-duality. Her intention is to provoke a certain intrigue and introspection in the viewer ‘s mind.

The show will commence on the 27th July 2013 and is on view till the 17th August 2013 

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)