The relentless evolution of our contemporary art is something to be proud of. The moneyed classes of our cities are growing out of the culture of wads of bank-notes in their cupboards and calendar art for their walls. Of course, at first, they buy Ravi Varma and images of gods and goddesses, but afterwards they begin to buy art and even patronise good artists. The Capital has a number of well to do artists who are patrons in their own right, though. So, it helps to raise the standard of art above the level of dealers in bric-a-brac. People are no longer satisfied with odds and ends. They want designer products.
The new Vyakt Art Gallery that architect Ritu Dimri has opened in Hauz Khas Village, intends to do just that. It has opened with an exhibition of 35 artists from all over the country.
Among the artists whose works immediately catch the eye are Ananda Moy Banerji using bright colours after a long time; Kali Charan Gupta?s melee of figures; Gopi Gajwani?s planes of colour; Kashmir Khosa?s figures flashing across the darkness like fireworks; Rakesh Kumar Gupta?s multicoloured forms and a new glow in Prem Singh?s works. It is evident from these works that our art ists are going to make an aggressive bid for global supremacy.
It should succeed, too. The range of masterly works exhibited give one the confidence to say our art has enough to express to the world. There is a range of works, from fine Bhupen Khakhar watercolours, to two canvases by Anupam Sud, a large canvas by Jatin Das, two complex narratives by Jai Zharotia, a still life by R B Bhaskaran; and scroll-style works by Sridhar Iyer and Yusuf, a warm abstract by Nand Katyal, two very accomplished watercolours by Amitava Das and a couple of resonant abstract surfaces by Mona Rai. The variety of expression is obvious. The younger artists, too, such as Kavita Jaiswal, Mohan Dattatreya Shingne and Kiran Singh Chauhan impress one with their control over form. Bulbul Sharma, Seema Verma, Aditya Basak, Jitish Kallat, Yusuf Arakkal, Gopal Choudhary and Vijaya Bhamri convey the enormous importance of the human being in our art that places it above the concern with colour, texture and form we are familiar with in Euro-American discourse.
In sculpture, too, we find our artists doing well in almost any medium. Hemi Bawa uses glass; Dilbagh Singh, Pankaj Manav and O P Khare bronze; Shivraj Singh Kardam, fibre glass; Shailendra, ceramics; and Brajpal Anand uses wood. Our rich environment is reflected in their work and it is evident our artists and curators are capable of appreciating what we are better endowed with and getting the best out of it. This exhibition is a good reflection of these traits.