Can you ever be art-exhausted? For anyone who remembers the 80s, it is overwhelming to see the explosion in the inescapable presence of visual arts in the city and country. It’s in your feed, on the streets in your waking moments, in your lucid and subconscious. In short, for anyone who knows me, it’s now the focal compass of my daily life. My regret for the week is missing out on the Sarmaya offsite by Art Mumbai ’24, but it will manifest when it has to. Also hope the litfest dates will not clash with a major draw in the art world for its next edition.
Yes, I did catch up with the powerhouse Girish and The Chronicles and Indus Creed (heard Gautam Benegal and Mahesh Tinaikar perform years after their rehearsals in the garage at the BMC residence of Tinaikar Sr) at the Mahindra Independence Rock Fest at Bhauchi Dhakka.
My experience of the week had to be the two-wheel suspension balance of Mahindra’s jeeps at the site. Took me back to when I did the rounds of Mahindra’s Nashik and Igatpuri factories in a CJ 340 or 540 on the bumpy rough road route back in the 90s, or sometimes in their charter flights. Steering back to Mahalaxmi Race Course where all the action is.
Art in the ‘80s
I WAS introduced to the world of consuming Art as a cub reporter. I would visit Pundole’s, then a gallery at Flora Fountain, and interact with M F Hussain at his preview and get the tall invite autographed. Or, view the twin Badri Narayan Ganesha’s at Rs4,000 each and think it was not for me. In dust-ridden Bombay, they deserved a home that could care for it. Or, visit Chemould, then housed at Hirji, Jehangir Art Gallery. A detour from the circuit would be Pheroja Godrej’s Cymroza.
I remember the spritely mother-daughter duo of Shanti and Sangeeta Chopra’s foray into the sale of modern masters as I sat in my prime position desk at the erstwhile Eve’s Weekly publication.
The symbiotic relations with artists and gallerists or interior stylists have endured over the decades when post the re-launch of Flair, a Media Transasia publication, we trooped to the newly done up Khyber where Parmeshwar Godrej commissioned Anjolie Ela Menon to create her signature paintings to adorn the space.
The artist community routinely contributed to initiatives that auctioned their work to raise funds for causes. It was all in a day’s work when my brief stint at Oberoi had 10 modern masters in residence for a week. J Swaminathan, Jehangir Sabavala, Ram Kumar, Broota, Anjolie Ela Menon, Kishen Khanna, and Suruchi Chand autographed two paint brushes which I treasure.
My overview and international perspective stepped up when I was part of the founding team for DLC, the World’s 1st Business platform for those at the zenith of their practice. Lifestyle is meaningful to the ascent of the lonely at the top entrepreneurs and professionals and young leaders. I was entrusted with the visual arts domain that saw me through the pandemic.
Art Mumbai’s II edition
THE Vaziranis, founders of Saffronart, Mumbai and co-founders of Art Mumbai, Max C’s first art fair have pulled off a creative coup. Be it the 71 stalls where Raja Ravi Verma’s “The Coquette” adorns the booth with his finest technique of bejewelled portraits. Or, their significant private collection of the centennial epochs Souza and Gaitonde, both Goan in Origin, the four days is a warm-up. Never mind if you missed the launch and then the next day gazed at the “Sea of Poppies” —the metal gauze flower garden by Jaipur Wolf’s Ritu and Surya Singh (by Srila’s Baro Market) at the VIP entrance. It’s the panels that brought much-needed conversations to the table. Dinesh raised pointers that were industry-specific and needed redressal.
Art Mumbai ’24 Maze
YOU know that your years are well spent in the domain of visual art when you don’t need a map to figure out your location (read that as the gallery without the need to look up at the signboard). It’s the imagery that connects the dots, the ethos of the gallery that gets artists to gravitate to like-minded gallerists. A branding of the creative space that you can put a finger to the pulse on. There was an actual maze by RMZ, one of the collaborators, but back to the abundance in the pavilions.
Art Unlimited
WHERE do I begin, to tell the story of what art means to me? The art love story keeps me in the wonderland of being constantly amazed. In my search for the exceptional, I was delighted to find Indore-based Hemant Rao’s work. The serenity of his palette, the translucent veils over his geometry, inspired by nature’s elemental forces (at the exhibition was raw energy focused on Light), is what I could look at forever. He is represented by Dhoomimal, the 01 gallery at the Modern section. The sensitive artist and I found a lot in common over the loss of our siblings last year. We finally met in person and I look forward to seeing this artist soar!
Anil Thambai’s work is what swept me off my feet when I discovered his work through Art Alive’s collection of artists from Ahmedabad. He uses graphite to create minuscule bricks with a pop of red or detailing, this time highlights in blue, keep you transfixed. Very often the art is a composite of multiple canvases. You value his gift even more when you learn of his inspiration, innate as an observer of his father labouring to build structures that he renders with pigments on sun hemp paper board.
Mumbai Masala
TEKAL Patni had a refreshing production of his Snowball edition of “Vichitra” with live models bringing immersive art to the fore at the Art Mumbai ’24. Tarun Tahiliani’s fashion extravaganza was out in its signature finery to conclude the busy launch day on the 14th.
Peeps who have had a dekko at Delhi meets Mumbai Bollywood wives’ lives, found a distraction. A live Karan Johar Q & A. As the ambassador for the Fair, he did an open-air panel with Delhi-based art collector Shalini Passi and the lovelies.
The Balance Sheet
THERE’S news for art collections that are coming out of the closet. According to Asign, while “there is a strengthening and broadening of the art market in India as a whole, the ultra-high value segment (works valued above Rs5 crore) recorded a staggering 48.3% reduction in turnover with a 20% reduction in the number of works sold from the previous autumn season.”
The good news is the art world has patrons of art like Kiran Nadar with their hearts in the right place. It is power vested in the hands that channelize evangelization, nurturing of the domain, and spreading of what makes the planet a better place. As Asad Laljee, Sr VP of Avid Learning, summed it as a moderator of one of the panels, it is education that is the need of the moment.
I feel the warmth of the familiar and the awe of the huge installations, the immersive component and the streets full of expression and character. What I find diluted is the reverence for the creative and the intuition of the curator. The openly brazen question of ROI and the abject dilemma of “losing money” by a prospective buyer, made me take a deep breath. I get away with my silver to interject. I would acquire an artwork if it talked to me, if its value zoomed along the way, that would be a bonus.
Yes, the Supreme Court now considers art as an important component of the asset and liability statement of people going their separate ways. But, the art world’s meteoric ascent is not akin to Nifty 50 danda. If you buy for the appreciation of the work, you can satiate yourself for the right reasons — unlike the ticker that blazes red and green on your screen.
Acquisition for Keeps
I AM rich beyond measure. In a world that is driven by “What’s in it for me?” I can sit on a bench and feel the connection with the artworks as if, for that brief time, I own them. It definitely does not pay my frugal bills BUT my balance sheet has more joy than the last 60 on this planet. So this is a shout-out to Minal & Dinesh, Conor Macklin and Nakul Dev Chawla, the participating galleries, creators, foundations, and institutions who kept the faith and shaped the domain to endow it with the abundance that I see.
Here’s hoping that the Art Mumbai founders can rejoice in their spectacular effort. Get some rest you guys, you have kept us on our collective toes. A colourful welcome to the presenters, Birla Opus’ for giving our city a soul, the best of India and S Asia as well as iconic pieces— Pablo Piccaso, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, and Anish Kapoor’s concave disc Brandy Wine and Green.