ART UNINTERRUPTED

The 8216;commercialisation8217; of art bothers him. And galleries8217; 8216;preference8217; of paintings over sculptures is something he8217;d like to change. NN Rimzon dissects the art scene in the country

Nn rimzon, the Kerala-born Leftist-Marxist sculptor and one of the few, dying old-school voices, looks unassuming in his casual shirt-pant and formal shoes but when he starts talking, you know he is a repository of ideas. 8220;As much as 5,000 years of history is embedded in our psyche. Images of our rich culture submerge our subconscious. Would it not be absurd to speak the language of the West just because everyone is going global?8221; he reasons.
His exhibition 8220;Sculptures and Drawings8221;, that premiers at the Guild Art Gallery in Mumbai this month, puts this wise man8217;s politico-cultural leanings on the canvas. His works 8212; elaborate bronze sculptures and simplistic paper drawings 8212; are a meeting point of the ancient and the modern.

8220;In this exhibition, I have experimented with works that are quite small in scale unlike my larger-than-life works which you saw in the group exhibition 8216;Edge of Desire8217;. Using the negative space around the object is as important as the object itself and this works well with a smaller format. The idea of working between these extremes is not to make pedestal sculptures,8221; says the Royal Collage of Art, London alumnus. Pedestal sculptures, what8217;s that? 8220;Most shows focus on paintings. The gallery8217;s space is managed according to where the paintings should be placed. And if there is some leftover space, they fill it up with sculptures mounted on pedestals. This renders them unnoticeable. One may just bump into them while viewing the paintings,8221; says the 51-year-old with dry sarcasm.

Rimzon does not sound happy with the art scene in the country. What8217;s his take on the opening up of the art mart? Predictably, he is irked by it. 8220;Opening up has undoubtedly made Mumbai the commercial capital of art and it is easier to hold shows outside the country than it was, say, five years ago. But in such a scenario, artists are doing their work in haste to meet the market demand. Galleries are churning out shows at the rate of a factory processing unit. All this has converted art into just another product,8221; he says.

Rimzon is known to take time on his works, given the fact that he has had more shows in Delhi and Europe and it is his first solo in Mumbai. 8220;Working in Delhi gave me the space and time to develop my art,8221; he says. The sculptures on display in this show capture tonsured figures busy in worship: a figure bent over in prayer the way Muslims do; three figures standing on a wooden beam 8212; one sitting in a yogic posture alluding to Lord Buddha, another standing with eyes closed and hands joined in the Christian way and yet another taking a dip in the Ganga, the holy river of the Hindus. 8220;Devotees on the Roof, which is the title of this work, shows the use of gestures in surrendering to God,8221; explains Rimzon.

The drawings on paper are intimate, direct and quick in contrast to the sculptures. 8220;Sometimes, the drawings may lead to bigger sculptures and at times, they are an end in themselves,8221; says the multifaceted artist who believes in working on every piece himself. 8220;It8217;s not like I do not take the help of a bronze casting expert or an ironsmith while doing my sculptures, but, in principle, I am against out sourcing work. Because, in that case, you cease to be an artist and become a designer. A work of art has to have the hand of the artist in it,8221; he says.