Art Bytes

Last week I should have mentioned about the Artes Mundi prize that was recently awarded to the Mysore based artist NS Harsha. UK’s prestigious 40,000 pound award is considered to be one of the largest international art awards. In fact, Harsha beat eight other nominees to win this prize. Way to go Harsha!

Incidentally, you must have noticed that the art scene is kind of quiet at the moment, especially in Bangalore. There are very few shows happening and even fewer that are worth talking about. Well, the summer heat is definitely taking a toll on all of us!

As I write this, the Hong Kong Art Fair (14 – 18 May) – a new annual art fair is going on. Limited edition prints, installations and paintings by world famous artists such as Picasso are available, where prices range from HK$7,500 to HK$275 million! In fact, according to the official website, one hundred galleries from 20 countries are showing thousands of works of art - from Andy Warhol to Zhang Xiaogang. Browsing through the list of galleries, I found a few such as Chemould and Vadehra art galleries from India, but none from Bangalore – at least none that I could spot.
Talking about art fairs, you must have read about the India Art Summit that is being organized in New Delhi in August this year. The event aims to bring together various players, such as artists, critics, galleries, dealers, auction houses, framers, and others who are associated with the art field, on to a common platform. There will be art exhibitions, installations, talks and opportunities to network for the various participants. The first of its kind event in the country, the summit has been planned along the lines of international art fairs and plans to have participants from across the world. Here’s looking forward to that.

Back in Bangalore, starting May 17 Gallery Sumukha is organizing a week-long sculpture workshop at its premises with sculptors such as Gopinath S, Jyotsna Bhatt, Karl Antao, Laxma Goud and Venkat Bothsa amongst others. The artists will create sculptures in clay, which will be later cast in bronze. Viewers are invited to visit the gallery and interact with the artists at specified timings. Some of you will remember that in 2004 the gallery had organized a similar workshop in printmaking with eminent artists proficient in printmaking. I happened to miss that workshop but hopefully will be able to visit this one.

(Published in Bangalore Mirror)

India Art Summit 2008: Art meet brings fraternity together

India 's first art summit is happening in New Delhi later this year. Formulated along the lines of international art fairs, the summit plans to bring together various players associated with the Indian art scenario on a common platform. According to a press release, this initiative will bring together a range of stakeholders supporting the business and development of art in India - artists, galleries, art funds, auction houses, art insurers, art framers, art valuators and restorers, art movers and packers, interior decorators and architects, reputed commentators and art critics from across the world. The event supported by veteran artists Anjolie Ela Menon and S H Raza, among others, promises to be an interesting and useful experience. Apart from providing various galleries the opportunity to showcase their artists, a one-day forum will also be organised that will have experts talk on issues that are relevant to the development and the business of art.

Anjolie Ela Menon who was in Bangalore recently for a short visit feels that an event such as this provides a great opportunity for all those involved with the art scene to come together and interact. Also, the summit will be open to public, and people from across all fields will have access to it. She explains that there will be discussions on issues such as taxation, legal aspects of fakes, rights for reproductions , copyrights and other relevant subjects. Hopefully, the dialogue between various agencies will also help in the regularisation of the art market. There is a need for a collaborative effort of this kind and the India art summit certainly promises a lot for all those connected with art. Finally, how can one resist asking Anjolie Ela Menon about the trend of investing in art? She feels it is a positive trend and now there is a lot of interest in avantgarde art. And, this is a good time to hang on to one's art and not be in a hurry to sell.

(Published in Financial Times)

An evening with JMS Mani

Last week I went for Ananya Drushya’s interactive session with the artist of the month. This month features JMS Mani, who most of you will know from his very popular ‘Badami’ series. Mani was invited to talk about his art and events that have shaped his artistic career. Initially reluctant to speak, Mani did talk at length about his early days with RM Hadpad (Founder of Ken School of Art), his exposure to different media, making prints, turning down a seat at the MS University, Baroda (which he admitted he regrets sometimes) and so many other lesser known facts associated with his life. He sportingly shared anecdotes that were not only delightful but refreshingly honest and sans frills. Such a pity that there were so few of us in the audience! Fortunately, (SG) Vasudev felt the need to repeat the interactive session at a later date and hopefully it will happen again sometime this month.Incidentally, Mani studied and then taught at Ken School of Art and retired from there as the Principal recently. The prints of his works that were on exhibit offered a valuable insight into his growth as an artist – lithographs, drawings and paintings from his early days to the present were on display. As Vasudev pointed out, Ananya attempts to showcase a retrospective wherever possible. I liked Mani’s early black and white works much more than the colourful men and women from the ‘Badami’ series. But, it so happens that this series is what defines him. The rustic appeal and the apparent spontaneity of vibrant colours in these paintings draw the viewer. For so many successful artists this can be such a vicious trap – they are forced to paint what the buyers want, but then critics pan them for repeating their works and not trying out anything new. A Catch 22 situation for them, don’t you think? Maybe sometimes we are too quick in judging artists; it helps to remember that at the end of the day this too is a profession for them. Artists also need to make ends meet and have families to support.
But then, I find artists today are much more experimental in their approach and are willing to take risks. If you look at the results of a few past auctions, what stands out is that contemporary artists who are trying out different media and genre are doing exceptionally well.

Contemporary art commanding high prices

The much-awaited Sotheby’s auction of Indian art far exceeded expectations. The recently held auction fetched £4.28 million, which in fact is much higher than the pre sale estimate of £2.4-3.4 million. At the auction 79% of the lots were sold. According to a press release from Sotheby’s, 67% of the lots sold for prices higher than their pre-sale high estimate and 11 new auction records were established for names including Rabindranath Tagore and Jitish Kallat, among others. F N Souza’s ‘The Red Road’ fetched £5,80,000 against an estimate of £2,50,000-3,50,000.A new auction record by medium was also set for Subodh Gupta. An Untitled canvas by Subodh Gupta was the top selling work of this group, achieving £264,500 against a pre-sale estimate of £70,000-100,000 and establishing a new auction record for a canvas by the artist. Amongst other notable results, Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Death Scene’, which made £144,500 against an estimate of £15,000-20,000 and his ‘Bird’, which sold for £70,100; and Jamini Roy’s ‘Santal Couple’ which sold for £29,300. Incidentally, Tagore’s ‘Death Scene’ established a new auction record for the artist. Along with Subodh Gupta, Bharti Kher, TV Santosh, Jitish Kallat, Thukral and Tagra performed exceedingly well.
One can safely say that the auction results reiterate the interest and acceptance worldwide for Indian contemporary artists. International themes combined with Indian ethos appear to be winning over global audiences.


Coming up next is the ‘Celebration of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art at the Christie’s auction next month. This auction in fact will also see the Ambanis put up 12 works from the Harmony Art Foundation in association with Barclays Wealth. The proceeds will go to the Harmony Foundation, which was established by Tina Ambani in 1995. The artworks are estimated to raise more than Rs 81 crores. Christie’s will also be exhibiting 32 works from Tina and Anil Ambani’s private collection, which includes artists such as M F Husain, Tyeb Mehta and S H Raza along with leading names in contemporary art such as Atul Dodiya, Jitish Kallat, TV Santhosh and Riyas Komu.

Indian Art Summit 2008

Eminent artist Anjolie Ela Menon who is in Bangalore briefly took a little time off from her busy schedule to talk to me about the upcoming India Art Summit 2008 to be held in New Delhi later this year. The summit aimed towards the development and business of art is modelled on international art fair formats. Anjolie Ela Menon explains, “A summit like this is a great idea that will help to bring in all the players associated with the art scene – artists, critics, gallery owners, framers, publishers and others together on a common platform.”
The Art Summit is an initiative by Hanmer and Partners who have been involved earlier with charity art auctions and Anjolie decided to be involved with their proposed summit as she was impressed with their professionalism and their grasp on topics and issues related to art.


To be held at the Pragati Maidan, Delhi in August, Anjolie feels the venue itself will help draw in people from across all strata. According to her, “At art galleries one finds only the elite classes whereas a venue like this makes it much more accessible to all. There are many galleries from across the country participating in the events. Then are seminars planned which will see noted speakers from across the world talk about development and growth of Indian art.”
She feels that the summit will also offer the general public an excellent opportunity to mingle and interact with the artists, which does not happen usually.
With this we come to en end to the conversation about the art summit and discuss a little bit about the investment scene in the country before signing off.

(Published in part in Bangalore Mirror)