Rustic Strokes

Dharmadhikari and nine other rural artists like him will make an appearance at Amanora Town Centre,Hadapsar,along with 200 selected paintings at an exhibition called “Art Beats”. “People like art no matter where they are,but unfortunately,market for buyers isn’t so big in small towns and villages. It is difficult for artists like us to reach out to people in the cities,” says Dharmadhikari,adding that the story changed after he was found by ArtworksIndia.com (AI),a Kolhapur-based company that seeks experienced artists who are virtually unknown to potential buyers.

Till date,the one-year-old art group has hooked up with 52 artists from remote villages and towns in Belgaum,Satara,Sangli and Kolhapur. Artists display their works on the group website and also tour cities such as Mumbai,Bengaluru and Pune,where they exhibit their work at public spaces such as malls and corporate venues. In January,at one such tour to Inorbit Mall in Mumbai,the group sold 25 paintings,four of which were by Dharmadhikari. “Instead of taking art to galleries that are visited only by a particular section of people,we want to take art to where people are. So we go to malls and wherever we find more people,and it has worked. People stop by and look at the paintings,and often end up buying the pieces,” says Vishwanath Gurav,the 29-year-old founder of AI.

At the Pune exhibition,Dharmadhikari will display his signature figurative paintings of rustic life. One of his works,Girls with goats,depicts three girls out with their grazing goats. Painted in bright and happy colours,the girls’ body language is unmistakeably relaxed. “The girls are at work but at the same time,are enjoying themselves,chatting and playing with the goats. People in the city don’t know how to enjoy life like this,” he says.

Other artists to feature in the exhibition will also bring their own message and philosophies to the show. On display will be Parshvanath Nandre,who has spent an entire career studying Buddhism and paints only representations of Buddha,and JB Patil,whose landscapes often toe the line between the real and the abstract,combining both styles to depict nature as he sees it in his mind.

Gurav,who gave up a successful career in marketing to start AI,comes from an artistic family. “My father was an artist. Since he couldn’t market his art,he often had to give them away for free. This way,artists can reach out to more people,” he says.

“Art Beats” will be on display at Amanora Town Centre from March 7 to 10