Not Just Art

Titled Fusion,the exhibition will have 55 works from 36 artists,many of who are debuting with Aziz in Delhi’s tepid art scene. “The trick is in putting together a show which has a good mix of mediums for all buyers and collectors. So,we have serigraphs,calligraphy works,oils,mixed media and sculpture,” says Aziz,who curated a south Asian art exhibition in June at the Dubai InterContinental in Festival City,where calligraphy artist Achyut Palav delighted the stiletto set with a live painting.

Among the works for the Delhi exhibition,there is a beautiful drawing titled Couple with Cat on white paper by Lalita Lajmi,mother of filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi. The blanched-faced mustachioed man and the sharp-nosed woman in the work have impressed buyers,says Aziz. Pune-based Italian abstract artist Shola Carletti’s untitled work is doused in shimmering gold,purple and black,while Mumbai-based sculptor Arzaan Khambatta’s wood-and-steel sculpture Snakes and Ladder is a playground of sorts,where the audience can actually play a game.

In this heap,a few artists,Aziz proclaims,are those who are on the verge of art-world celebrityhood. Among them is Avijit Dutta,who recently held a solo show in France,and Gurcharan Singh,whose works study red light areas and include thought-provoking portraits. At the exhibition,he will show an untitled work of a woman with a parrot. The famous names featured at the show include Ram Kumar,Paresh Maity,HR Das,Brinda Miller,Jatin Das and Jehangir Sabavala.

The exhibition is being organised by Bhavna Minocha,whose new gallery Poetry in Frames is scheduled to open in South Extension (part I) in September. A self-taught artist,she was impressed by the line-up of artwork that Aziz offered. She would,however,have one eye on the artwork at the show and the other on the cash register. As she reminds us,she was spurred to set up her 3,000 sq ft gallery because of “an amazing response in January when I sold seven works”. “At Fusion,we are expecting big names from the worlds of fashion and art as well as the embassy circles,who are interested in art,” says Minocha.

The preview of the exhibition is on August 6. The show is on till August 8.

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