Family Frame

It8217;s getting to be such a long list that it is making single artists like Tejal Shah jokingly exclaim: 8220;Half the art fraternity is married to each other, how incestuous!8221;

Artists being married to artists is not new 8212; Madhvi and Manu Parekh are an example from another generation 8212; but the new visibility and status that Indian art is enjoying, with new art galleries springing up and doing brisk business and auction houses bringing the hammer down on art old and new sending prices sky-rocketing, has certainly put the spotlight on the new pair power-arti.

Art couples make for the glamourous aspect on page three, showing a growing obsession with art, but artists themselves say two to paint has its benefits. As figurative painter Atul Dodiya, who sold for Rs, 12,188,000 at a March online auction, puts it: 8220;When someone shares your passion, so many things are conveyed without having to explain.8221;

canvas for two

Anju, in fact, is his first viewer, 8220;If I can manage to surprise her, then I know that my work has reached a new level,8221; says Dodiya. Anju was Atul8217;s junior at art school but her fiercely independent streak ensured she made room for herself and established her own style and presence. Her price at the auctions is yet to touch the crore mark but recent paintings went for as much as Rs 1,798,500.

But even while, for most, the benefits of marriage seem to have extended beyond the home-sphere into the work place, it isn8217;t always that an art couple is a 8220;package-deal8221; in the market, 8220;one for the price of two8221;.

For one, many of these artists do very different work. For instance, where installation artist Bharti Kher8217;s work is rooted in her experience of being an urban, diasporic, Asian woman, Subodh Gupta whose recent canvas went for Rs 6,435,000 tends to focus on, and play up, his small town Bihari roots. Metaphors in his work range from paintings and installations of steel vessels like milk buckets and thalis, milk cans to tiffin-carriers, cowdung and desi pistols. Bharti whose untitled mixed media with bindis on composite aluminum board sold for around Rs 10 lakh at the Christie8217;s Hong Kong, uses symbols and protagonists who operate in the mall culture of an Alice in Wonderland kind of existence where shopping angles morph into leopard-ladies and mad hatter tea parties are inventions of the artist8217;s imagination.

As Sree Goswami of Project 88 who recently held a solo of artist Bharti Kher points out, 8220;If you like her kind of art there are chances that you may not connect with her spouse8217;s work since they are so different in their approach and concerns. There is no reason why you should show both or like both.8221;

Geetha Mehra of Sakshi Art Gallery, however, argues that opposites can make for an interesting collection. Her gallery brings together the best works of Atul and Anju Dodiya and Surendran Nair and Rekha Rodwittya. 8220;I find Atul8217;s work more accessible because of his use of pop imagery while Anju8217;s works are far more personal. It wouldn8217;t be fair to pit them against each other since they8217;re both different in their approach,8221; says Mehra.

Art aside, there are more than a few voices of discontent within the fraternity when it comes to the pair power-arti. Speaking off the record, many artists share their grouse that even if the couples don8217;t show together, they share guest and gallery lists. There have been more than a few instances where gossip has ranged on an 8220;important8221; artist withholding his/her paintings until the gallery agrees to showing the spouse at a later date. Many believe the 8220;star8221; artist in a marriage puts pressure on galleries to get his/her spouse a platform.

But that8217;s if the couple is not competing within themselves. Painters have a tougher time distinguishing their art since the vocabulary of painting is more limited than installation art. The danger of similar work shaping up due to an unconscious rubbing of ideas takes place is almost inevitable. Some artists openly invite a 8220;feeding off each other8217;s energies8221;, to quote Kallat.

But, of course, 8220;it8217;s usually smooth sailing as long as the wife doesn8217;t challenge the husband8221;, says a slightly sceptical Goswami. While that has been the general trend since art, like any other field, has been male-dominated, there are exceptions. Rekha Rodwittiya, for example, has been showing her work more widely and prolifically for a far longer time than partner Surendran Nair, who was doing small format works and the occasional canvas. His painting recently hit a new high for contemporary with Rs 11, 261,250 at the Saffron Art auction while Rekha8217;s figurative canvases recently went for Rs 1.75 lakh, at a Sotheby8217;s auction. 8220;I require a lot of time to process and paint. Putting together works for my Sakshi solo 2006 has taken me four years,8221; says Nair.

It8217;s the other way round for the Shreshthas. While everyone craves an abstract by Laxman Shreshtha for their collection, few know what Sunita8217;s canvases look like. 8220;I am not a painter like Laxman. I take very long to make a work and have not been eager to show my work,8221; says Sunita.

Mixed media artist Navjot, who was late painter Altaf8217;s student, too, soon got on with her own concerns and became the more experimental one in the family, with her big video installations, photography works and collaborative installations in Bastar. Altaf remained a painter but ill-health deterred the artist in his latter years and he wasn8217;t able to produce new large paintings.

And then, there8217;s the occasional quirk in the career graph with family concerns. When the stork visited Kallat and Saini, everyone was sure Reena would take a sabbatical. However, 8220;I worked like a maniac throughout my pregnancy for my solo show. I think being pregnant gave me a crazy energy that I8217;ve never experienced before,8221; says Reena, who allowed herself time-off only after her solos were up at Bodhi Art Gallery this September. 8220;It was one of the most phenomenal times for me to see her push the limits of her practice both physically and content wise,8221; says husband Kallat.

At the end of the day, at home, it8217;s about making space, literally and creatively. 8220;It can get unhealthy since all we do is talk, eat and sleep art and it becomes a bit excessive but over the years we have learnt how to give each other creative space,8221; says Anju. 8220;And, if the art market ever hits a low, we will finally have time to read all those books that we8217;ve stocked up.8221;

For now, it8217;s gearing up for coming exhibitions, twosome smiles for the cameras firmly in place.