Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
It's a booming art market here too
|
The ongoing group exhibition at Durbar Hall Art Gallery features five Kerala artists. All 30 works are sold out
|
ART MART Works of Azis T.M., Alex Mathew, Sosa Joseph, N.N. Rimzon and Rajan M.Krishnan at the exhibition at Durbar Hall Art Gallery PHOTO: H. VIBHU
Want to make money? Go paint. The art scene is throbbing with life, like never before. Every brush stroke translates into thousands of rupees, that is, if the name sells. The Kerala scene is, luckily for the homebound artists, the same. The works at the group exhibition at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery, are virtually selling like hot cakes. Like IPOs, they were lapped up. Of the 30 works of five artists, 15 were sold as soon as it was opened on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning, they were sold out and till 24th, the gallery will show these works. So, a trip to the gallery can enlighten you.
While earlier, the works hung, desolate till the last day and the gallery considered it lucky if at least 10 per cent of the works were sold, now, there is a mad rush to buy works of art.
Prices
In this exhibition, Rajan M. Krishnan sold all five of his works for Rs. 3,00,000 each. N. N. Rimzon's works cost Rs. 60,000 each, while Sosa Joseph has priced her works between Rs 50,000 and Rs. 1,20,000. Azis T.M. and Alex Mathew sold their works for Rs. 50,000 each. Dilip Narayanan of Open Eyed Dreams, who curated the show, says both Malayalis and North Indians bought the paintings.
The five artists featured have five distinct styles. What attracts you most about Rajan's paintings is their size. Not only are they huge, but the shapes beckon. They are not ordinary shapes like squares or rectangles. They are very long, whether horizontally or vertically, so that the shapes stand out. He uses dull colours but the combos have a novelty, along with the light and shade effect. The five works that are on show are going towards minimalism, to use an artistic term, for his earlier works had more details and more aesthetic appeal too.
Creditable craft
Azis uses references from news pictures and with his own technique; the watercolours form a fluid image. Credit should be given to his craft. Alex Mathew works on faces. `Half the truth' is the title of two paintings, soft pastels, with two similar faces in two different circumstances.
Rimzon's abstract interiors are done with charcoal on paper. The mood is stark. Sosa Joseph's works have `female' written all over it: Kettles, cats, clotheslines, kitchen, jackfruit and vessels.
"Kerala artists are doing well now," says Dilip Narayanan, who is Kozhikode based and has put up a couple of shows earlier in the State.
The layman is confused and wonders at the price tags. What is good art and what is not? Who is the judge? And what is it that makes art sell? Love and patronage of art is back among the well heeled. With disposable income on the rise, art as an investment is in vogue. What started in Mumbai has percolated down to God's Own Country, though buyers remain largely Mumbaiyya. Southeby's auctions have honoured Indian painters with their works going for close to Rs. 7 crore. The mood among Indian art collectors is thus upbeat. Whether painters are overrated and whether buyers have burnt their fingers will be known after a couple of years for a decade later many will become also rans and the talented few will rule, but for now, it's party time.
PREMA MANMADHAN
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
