The pleasure principle

There's more demand than supply in G R Iranna's market.

When most artists seek appreciation to a narcissistic degree, 35-year-old Golappa Rukumpur Iranna is behaving oddly. At his studio in New Delhi's Garhi, several minutes elapse after our preliminary introduction till, finally, one is compelled to pop the question.

"So, where are the works?" Iranna is at first hesitant. "Give me a minute," he says, leaving the room. Shortly, he enters carrying "The Retired King". The painting marks the first major shift in his work.

"This one is not for sale," he says by way of explanation. "I have wanted to keep a work of mine for the last four years but haven't been able to do so."

Nobody can accuse Iranna for hiding his work from the prying eyes of gallerists and collectors who regularly make a beeline at his doorstep. In times when the art market is soaring, Iranna is one of the busier artists in town.

For one, he has submitted 12 works to the Amit Judge-owned Bodhi Art gallery in Singapore for a show this summer. In between dispatching a work to Mumbai for a Saffronart auction and completing another for Arun Vadhera's new gallery in Okhla, he is looking forward to his upcoming show at Arts India Gallery in New York next year.

In effect, Iranna, who produces 12-15 paintings every year, is booked for over a year from now.

"Iranna's work is in short supply, as a result of which his prices are going up," admits Anubha Dey, gallery manager of Bodhi Art in Delhi, and who is currently assisting to take his show to Singapore. If in 1998, a 5'x5' Iranna cost Rs 40,000-65,000, today it will command between Rs 2.5-3 lakh.

Like the other painters from his home state of Karnataka "" K K Hebbar, S Vasudev, Nataraj Sharma "" roots and memory form an important role in his work, while the recurring figure of a man is autobiographical in nature. But it is not as if Iranna shot into prominence overnight. It was after being rejected as an art teacher in a Delhi school that he decided to devote full time to painting.

Even as his works form part of important collections today, including Chester Herwitz in New York, gallerists are scrambling to acquire an Iranna. He himself, however, prefers to be loyal to his two old gallerists "" Gallery Espace in New Delhi and The Guild in Mumbai.

Iranna, who entered Saffronart's auction market last year, feels auctions are good. "Artists know what prices their works are fetching, as otherwise you have no idea how much your work is getting sold at," he says. In the same breath, he says art is not just for investment but also for pleasure.

"Art is not a diamond or gold," he says. Many will disagree and will care to listen to his plea even less, so long as he continues to produce work and keep up the quality bar.