PRIZE TAGS

With artists swiftly moving from being the Next Big Thing to stars and ascending the stratosphere of price tags, galleries across the country are in a frenzy, scouting for new talent and gracing them with awards. For the gallery, it means the beginning of a beneficial friendship; for the artist, it is the much-needed entry to stratosphere. While the Foundation of Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) recently presented the Emerging Artist Award to Shumona Goel and Sandip Pisalkar, Jain is ready to give away the 17th Ravi Jain Annual Awards; and ART India and the Visual Arts Gallery are ready to present the Promising Artist Award. Meanwhile, in Mumbai, Bodhi Art presented its award; and in Kochi, Kashi Art Gallery announced its Award for Visual Art. Compare this to the scene five years ago: awards were then the prerogative of public institutions like the Lalit Kala Akademi, with just a couple of private galleries in the prize race.

Now preparations begin months in advance, with galleries approaching students in art colleges to send entries. But not everyone can apply. Bodhi insists the applicant should be doing the master’s. So does FICA but adds that the artist should be below 35 years. At Dhoomimal the age limit is 30, while Visual Art Gallery’s Promising Artist Award draws the line at 40.

While a jury is delegated the task of selecting winners, the role played by the gallery differs. FICA and Dhoomimal forward all the entries to the judges, but Bodhi presents a shortlist of about 25 entries. “We do the initial sifting and approach the judges with the artists whom we think have talent,” says Kanchi Mehta, project coordinator of the third Bodhi Award. Its winner, Shreyas Karle, will spend 10 weeks at a residency in Switzerland, while the two runners-up have got Rs 50,000 each. “The residency will give exposure to the artist,” says Mehta.

Roshini Vadehra, a founding member of FICA, agrees. FICA’s winners, Goel and Pisalkar, will attend an international artist residency and then exhibit their works at solo shows at the Vadehra Art Gallery next year. “A year is given to the artist to work on a substantial body of work for the exhibition,” says Vadehra. Meanwhile, her Okhla gallery is getting ready to showcase the canvases of last year’s winner, Om Soorya, from Saturday.

Apart from works being showcased by the gallery that has instituted the award, what does the artist gain? Well, if you win ART India and Visual Art Gallery’s award, you get Rs 3 lakh, FICA gives Rs 1 lakh each for its two winners, and Dhoomimal gives a modest annual scholarship of Rs 20,000. It is more than that, says 27-year-old Karle, “It is the first step in the professional career for an artist.”

Among those who would gladly agree is artist GR Iranna. His work fetches lakhs of rupees now, but Iranna still recalls the excitement of winning Vadehra Art Gallery’s In Search of Talent award and Rs 10,000 in 1993 when he was still pursuing his master’s. “The award helped me gain recognition. But, now, the impact of an award is much more,” he says.

Significantly, even as an artist is declared the winner, those conferring the award also share the stardom. “The process helps the gallery to reach out to young artists and get a sense of the kind of work that is happening and noteworthy. Close association with the artist can be established if the sensibilities match,” says Jain, as he gets back to organising his display — before collectors and connoisseurs troop into the gallery on September 29 to view his choice.