Friday, March 14, 2014

Painternet Collection Show, The Meaning of Return and more..

NEWS

Painternet Collection Show
( Works on display)
India’s 1st Online Art Gallery Painternet.com is all geared up to showcase its 3 decade collection of Master artists such as Hebbar, Vaikuntam, Madhvi Parekh amongst others at the Hirji Jehangir Art Gallery. This is also accompanied by the evocative work of Mr. Prashant Shah that brings alive the ancient and sacred tradition of Jain Heritage. 

It is an initiative to identify with the range of artists they have across different genres, the work and their humble stories. Painternet.com intends to design a creative interaction between artists, collectors, enthusiasts, critics and investors and create an ambiance that connects art to many hearts!


The show is on view from 19th March to 24th March 2014.

The Meaning of Return
( Work on display)
Mumbai Art Room presents a solo show of art work by artist Scott Myles. The show is titled, ‘The Meaning of Return’ and is curated by curator, Zasha Colah. The show presents a suite of prints made directly onto the walls of the Mumbai Art Room, which will be whitewashed away at the end of the exhibition, depicts an array of sculptural objects laid out across an expansive floor. 

In the current presentation by Scott Myles, (born 1975 in Dundee, Scotland) the public space of the gallery is likened to a ballet studio, a space of private performative gestures - like the artistic studio - for rehearsal, and trial. In the ballet studio, dancers were replaced with sculptures, composed of found objects like a wheelchair, or the wheels of a swivel-chair, and parts he fabricated himself to form his choreography of anthropomorphic performers in the space. The barres running horizontally may be read as a kind of horizon line, a bar for support and a line of stability, within a space of unlimited choreographic possibility for movement. 

The show is on view till 30th April 2014.

Living in Our Times


Open Palm Court Gallery, New Delhi presents a solo exhibition by Asmita Rajiv.  Asmita Rajiv, an International award-winning artist, focuses on depicting the stories of people, thereby transporting viewers from their comfort zones into a contemplative frame of mind. 

In her current series of paintings, titled, ‘Living In Our times’ she has brought on canvas the pains, triumphs, struggles, aspirations, joys and sorrows of common men and women in the urban space, thereby unraveling the poignant issues plaguing humankind. Her paintings have elements of symbolism, and each painting is accompanied by a poem that describes the story behind the painting.

The show is on view from 17th March to 21st March 2014.

Ode to the Monumental
(Workby Laxma Goud)
Hirji Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and for the first time Saffronart, will treat Mumbai’s art aficionados to a group show dedicated to large scale,  life-size sculptural tableaus, paintings 25 ft tall and a 45 ft high video installation by the stalwarts of modern and contemporary Indian art.

The show ‘Ode to the Monumental:Celebration.Visuality.Ideology’ will feature canvas, sculpture and installation works by artists such as Jogen Chowdhury, KG Subramanyan, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar, Anandajit Ray, Jagannath Panda, Nataraj Sharma, Thota Vaikuntam, Satish Gujral and Laxma Goud, among others.

The show is on view till 18th March 2014.

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE


Art in a nut shell
Saleem creates art from coconut shells
( Saleem; photo by Athira M)
On a hot afternoon on Eve’s beach, Kovalam, Saleem is busy working, polishing a coconut shell to perfection. Waiting patiently and conversing with him in English is Jarnne, a French tourist. Saleem is all ears and carries on the conversation in English, even as he tries to cut the coconut shell into small pieces. Apparently, Jarnne wants him to make a pendant for her chain. “He is very good…,” says Jarnne, who had met Saleem during one of her earlier visits to the beach.
As another tourist season is about to get over, Saleem is among the many craftsmen on the beach who will take to the sea to make a living. He is a well-known figure on the beach, thanks to his craftsmanship in making strikingly aesthetic curios and jewellery from coconut shell. “I have been doing this for 15 years,” says Saleem, who hails from Kovalam itself.
In fact, the self-taught craftsman is a fisherman who goes fishing in the sea off Kovalam once the tourist season gets over. “I was 35 when I first began experimenting with coconut shells. I just felt that I could make something out of this. Candle stands, ash trays and finger rings filled my home. A few tourists happened to see the products and were impressed by my work. They encouraged me to make more products. Gradually it became a source of income during the tourist season,” he says.
Now at 52, he seems to have got quite a good clientele. “People buy the products because they know it is handmade,” he says.
However, he doesn’t market the products through any outlets. “I prefer to work like this, taking my own time to finish each item. I don’t think I will be able to meet the deadline if I take orders from shops or other places,” he says.
He makes delicate containers with filigree-like work, candle stands, flower vases, pendants, bangles and the like. One of his standout pieces is a metal container adorned with finely crafted coconut shells on them. “I buy a regular metal tin. Coconut shells are cut into square shaped pieces and stuck to the tin. Sometimes I make a small hole on each piece which is then filled with small pieces of the shell of tender coconut. These containers can be used to keep anything, be it tea dust, coffee powder, trinkets, jewellery…,” he says.
Axo blade, sand paper and saw are used to make the products. The craft is something that Saleem holds close to his heart, so much so that he doesn’t allow us to take photograph of his products. “They are exclusive…,” he says with a smile.
Saleem also takes tourists for a ride on his catamaran. “I have got the licence issued by the Port Office. I, along with my partner, take two tourists at a time for the ride,” he says.
The father of four has studied till class nine. But he can speak English and Tamil quite well. 

( Report by Athira M for The Hindu)

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