Art from Close Quarters
T Venkanna arrived with a printing press,paints,brushes,wood and paper at Gallery Maskara on July 19 and set up shop.
T Venkanna arrived with a printing press,paints,brushes,wood and paper at Gallery Maskara on July 19 and set up shop. Till September 4,he will work in the gallery every day,creating works “centering around sexual imagination and public response to sex”,under the gaze of the public. The multi-talented artist—who raised eyebrows earlier this year when he posed nude with visitors at Art Stage,Singapore — says working in an open studio does not affect his creative process because he works spontaneously. “My ideas come from within my mind,” he explains. “I’m not copying from anywhere so I don’t need that kind of concentration. That’s why people watching me work don’t distract me.”
During his stint in the Colaba gallery,Venkanna will create works using various printmaking techniques such as woodcut and etching. He will also create stenciled works using intricate stencils that he has developed over the last few years. Explaining the idea of holding an open studio,Abhay Maskara says,“It is an attempt to blur the conventional
line between an artist’s
studio and an art gallery. People can see each stage of the work in progress
and not just the finished work that is usually displayed in galleries.”
Once upon a time,an artist’s studio might have been the sanctum where masterpieces were created. Today,however,artists are eager to share their creative process with the connoisseurs. With the easel and the palette now moving to public spaces,people are free to see how an artist works on each stroke. Currently,Pune-based Aditi Kulkarni is developing an installation questioning the “alienation of space and the perceptual relationship to gravity,space and memory in Delhi’s Seven Art Limited gallery.
Similarly,artist duo Kundo Yumnam and Korou Khundrakpam have moved out of their Safdarjung Enclave studio to Religare Art Gallery in Saket for a month-long artist residency. The two intend to create an installation based on their experience in the gallery,which is located in a corporate office building. “The artwork will be based on our observations and of those who visit the gallery,” says Yumnam. Across the room,Brazilian artist Luciana Lyrio Junqueira,their co-participant in the residency,shares their sentiment. “It’s good to take inspiration from
an unfamiliar environment
at times,” says the 39-year-old,who will base her
work on Indian embroidery patterns.
Director of Khoj Studios,Pooja Sood has been encouraging interaction between audience and artists for years. On Saturday evening,she had curator Sudeshna Chatterjee discuss her three-dimensional models,posters and a video with the visitors. The artwork was also an outcome of her interaction with children in Khirkee extension. “It is important to demystify art — both for the artist and the audience. The interaction helps initiate more people into art,” says Sood.
For art buyers not acquainted with the nuances of different mediums,the opportunity to see artists at work is an educational experience. “Several people had suggestions and questions. Of course,it is important that an artist patiently addresses the queries,” says Manjunath Kamath,who spent a week painting on the walls of Delhi’s Gallery Espace last August. “It can be distracting to discuss artwork with people when it is still being conceived,” says Mexico-based Polish artist Xawery Wolski,who is part of the residency. But then,the advantages are plenty too. “The feedback helps artists grow,” he smiles.
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