‘Any Moment Now’ by artist Ravikumar Kashi

(By Nalini S Malaviya)
Ravikumar Kashi’s new works titled ‘Any Moment Now’ highlight the role of media advertisements in building up expectations, which subsequently breeds desire. The media focuses on creating and increasing dissatisfaction by continuously bombarding the viewer with something better and greater. The advertisements encourage people to spend more money in order to feel better. It is this aspect, which finds place in Ravi’s paintings. In his last show the artist had explored urban complexities and conflicts arising out of media hype. While, these present works are an extension in a sense, they also explore the idea of proximity of images (Sannidhi – the art of proximity), which in turn generate a meaning. For instance, any change in proportion or presence of text results in a change in the entire meaning of the composition. According to Ravi, “I am interested in how these images loose some of their original identity, get altered and gain new meanings when combined with other images and text.” He therefore uses Photoshop as a tool to experiment.

The artist continues his tryst with mediatic imagery, but this series brings out the sense of anticipation, expectation and unfulfilled desires, in today’s fast paced world. The protagonist as if suspended in time, awaits the next moment where an extraordinary future is round the corner. He hopes and waits to experience intense pleasure or maybe even a divine intervention. It also reflects the psychology of the human mind that is ever optimistic and always hopeful for a brighter tomorrow. And, this is what the media exploits and utilizes to the hilt, when selling a product. Ravi believes the media by itself has become an entire secondary reality by all these promotions, and has acquired an independent existence, which cannot be ignored.

The artist has borrowed symbols commonly seen on the computer screen, such as the cursor, sand timer, and hyperlinks to emphasize how deeply these icons are rooted in our consciousness at the moment, and to create the illusion that the painting itself is part of the electronic medium.
The title work, a triptych focuses on the theme of the series, where the central panel depicts a man running, while the two side panels are filled with splashes of color. The imagery hopes to convey the feeling of escaping from reality or running towards one’s goal. It plays upon the aspirational value, which causes such contradictions. The five stars on the top part of the canvas could signify a rating for a movie. ‘Wait a minute’ shows a closed door and a man sitting on an inflated balloon. The sense of waiting, underlying tension and anticipation comes through. ‘Wish’, a distorted and magnified image reflected on the petrol tank of a gleaming new red bike reiterates the desire for all material things - more expensive and more powerful whether it is automobiles or bikes. ‘Pinnacle’ a panel divided into two has a stepladder going up, where the top part of the canvas has a burst of colors, which symbolizes intense pleasure and once again draws attention to power games and the pursuit for happiness.



In his compositions Ravi Kashi juxtaposes sometimes disparate images that complement to generate a new meaning or openly conflict to present a dichotomy. However, the latter works out well whereas, when the images are semi-coordinated the result is somewhat more straightforward and almost predictable. On the other hand, the conflicting images tend to engage the viewer to analyze and interpret the composition. There are a few paper cast works also in a diary like format where visuals and text are used to convey he narrative.

The series will be exhibited from 27 May – 2 June 2007, Air Gallery, London.

Pricing of Artwork

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

Prices of paintings and other forms of art range from a few thousand to lakhs of Rupees and even millions of dollars (at international auctions). As an investor it is important to know what are the factors that determine the price of an artwork. Art galleries play a significant role in fixing the price of an artwork especially for new artists. For the mid-level artists, the gallery and the artist work in tandem to fix the price.
Some of the guidelines that should be considered when determining the price are - years of experience of the artist, number of shows he's had, current market rates, demand, size, quality and medium of work. For instance, similar sized works but in different mediums (pencil drawing, watercolor or oil painting) by the same artist will vary accordingly.

According to an art gallery the primary factor is the quality of the work, or at least the future promise in the quality of the work. They elaborate, “other criteria for fixing a price for a young artist depends on how "fresh" he/she is on the scene. If the artist has been working for a couple of years without any major solo exposure, but if there is already a certain maturity in his work, we can look at a slightly higher pricing than his contemporaries. If he/she is absolutely new and we need to watch in what direction the artist is going, then we tend to keep prices very affordable in order to encourage art lovers/collectors to invest/spend on the work.”
Similarly for mid rung artists pricing depends on the quality of the work and how much it is evolving - is the artist getting better and a little experimental (trying new themes, approaches, while sustaining identity) or is he/she just forging ahead on an already successful style/ theme? Prices are raised accordingly.
In fact, the gallery has absolutely no say when it comes to senior and well-established artists. Interestingly, prices do not or rather should not vary drastically from one market to another. A painting by an Indian artist should cost approximately the same in London or US. Increased connectivity has ensured greater transparency in dealing. This is also a way to check out the credibility of the art dealer.

Published in Financial Times

Art Buzz (May 17, 2007), Bangalore

Art Attack - Bangalore Protest

Art Attack – What’s wrong with it?

By Nalini S Malaviya

Artists in Bangalore feel strongly about the arrest of art student Chandramohan in Vadodara. An incident, which is making headlines across the country, it is being criticized by the entire art community for its highhandedness and fundamentalist approach. Chandramohan, a final year student of Fine Arts at the MS University, Baroda was arrested on charges of obscenity, during the annual student evaluation where students present their projects. Coming close on the heels of the Husain controversy, most artists feel art is being targeted increasingly. Eminent Bangalore artist SG Vasudeva finds no justification for such an incident, "what is happening in Baroda is unimaginable. How could the Police enter the institution and arrest a student who was putting up his artwork for the sake of examination? It is unheard of! The action of the Vice Chancellor is equally shocking. Instead of protecting his student and the institution from the Police and from the ‘Moral policing persons’, he asks the student to apologize and sacks the Dean of Fine Arts Faculty for supporting the cause of student/s. The ‘Fundamentalists’ are taking the law into their own hands and or politicizing the Police and bring fear amongst the right thinking people.”

Artist Jasu Rawal from Vadodara now settled in Bangalore also feels police action against students is not healthy. He believes, “there should be an assessment of the intention behind such activities. Often jealousy or political motivation can be the moving factor behind such incidents. I have not seen the works, but if there is something, which needs to be criticized it should be discussed and debated in the right fora.”

Having studied at MS University, Ravikumar Kashi clarifies that all students’ present their artworks for internal assessment before a jury. Often, there are visitors who come in out of curiosity, but the intention is not to present this before outsiders. I have not seen the specific images but from what I have heard, it is along the lines of Tantric art, which has a long history in our country. Sculptures from Ajanta, Khajuraho and most temples are erotic in nature and this is not a concept new to us. In my opinion, we need to make them (fundamentalist) see things in the right context and at the same time we condemn this kind of policing. The silent protest planned to be held later in the day (6 pm MG Road) hopes to bring justice to Chandramohan. A letter addressed to the Governor of Gujarat is also being prepared.

Babu Eeshwar Prasad also feels that art is being targeted much more now than in the past. He says, “fundamentalists are using it to get mileage for themselves.” In fact, art has often been considered to be gimmicky and publicity oriented in the past, but now it seems to have become a ready prop for those looking for their two minutes of glory. Of late, many artists have drawn flak over their paintings and installations (remember last year’s show in Mumbai!), which has given rise to a lot of debate on the need for censorship. Vasudeva elaborates, “As a creative person I know my boundaries. No one needs to ‘censor’ my work. It is actually a fundamental freedom of expression that is being questioned. We should not allow ‘Talibanisation’ in our Country."
Although, the artist community is strongly against it, many people feel there is a need for moderation and sensitivity from the artists as well. I remember meeting a very senior artist from Mumbai who said that artists are not operating in a vacuum, they also have a social responsibility and they should be sensitive to the feelings of the viewers. The debate continues, but surely in a democracy, we can do without extremism

Watch this space for more…