Cause & Effect

“Good artwork finds takers and the aim is to collect funds for charity,” says Nath as he prepares for the auction scheduled to take place at the Malaysian High Commissioner’s residence in Delhi on February 6. Proceeds go towards providing health and education for the underprivileged.

Coming under the hammer will be over 60 lots,including collaborative artwork between artists and renowned personalities from other fraternities. While Bollywood couple Neetu Singh and Rishi Kapoor have painted on a canvas with Akbar Padamsee,Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has an artwork with Yusuf Arakkal. Ekta Kapoor was paired with Jaideep Mehrotra,Deepa Mehta with Pakistani artist Jamil Naqsh and Tyeb Mehta with his grandson Ali Akbar Mehta. “The marriages require a lot of thinking. The pairs have to be compatible and a deliberate attempt is made to understand the kind of art that the person is inclined to,” notes Nath. The skeptics scoffed when four years back he proposed that artists and non-artists collaborate on an artwork,but the idea seems to have gained acceptance now. “I was never unsure about the proposition,” smiles Nath. Artist Manish Pushkale adds,“It is an interesting idea. Art is all about one expert and an innocent. There is a creator and people who watch it. It is a process of creativity and different people participate.” On auction will be Pushkale’s oil on canvas where the artist has painted motifs chosen by designer Vijay Arora and another collaborative work with Pushpanjali Sharma where the duo has reacted to the Mumbai terror attack.

Fashion designer Gauri Karan,on the other hand,has ideated a canvas with sister Nainika and Krsna Mehta. “The artwork is similar to our designs in terms of the sensibility. It is fresh and feminine,” she notes,pointing out to the canvas in floral patterns.

While the nation waits breathlessly for AR Rahman to bring home uncle Oscar,the composer has collaborated with artist Ranbir Kaleka on a video artwork. The ten-minute video,still being made,was a concept conceived by the duo at Rahman’s Chennai studio. “When the curtain rises in the video,it appears that one is looking though the forest. There are passages of strife and confusion and high notes of triumph. Of course,to Rahman’s music,” Will this emerge as the slumdog of the auction? Art connoisseurs will decide.