Termed as a "celebration of modern and contemporary art" the India Art Festival, which debuted here after four editions in Mumbai brought to the city uncanny installations, life size sculptures and paintings in myriad media under one roof.
40 art galleries and more than 300 artists from 15 Indian cities and 5 countries were hosted over the last three days by the event, which sought to facilitate dialogue and collaborations between galleries,independent artists, art collectors and connoisseurs.
Aberrations from conventional forms of art were conspicuous in the very first installation "What is intolerance?" by Odisha-based artist Sudhanshu Sutar right at the entrance of the festival venue of the National Stadium.
Sutar's installation tears through the ongoing debate of what intolerance is and explains India's most recent dilemma through the popular crab mentality metaphor - "if I can't have it, neither can you."
The artist filled up a chest with over 150 fibre glass crabs painted with faces of famous Indian personalities - actors, politicians, sportspersons, writers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it to the top of the crab pile leaving behind, Manmohan Singh, Amitabh Bachchan, Sonia Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar and many others.
The event not only showcased major and mid-level art galleries with innovative artworks but also offered emerging, independent artists a platform to get discovered while getting an opportunity to interact with the masters.
Festival director Rajendra said the festival has attempted to breach the gap between an art market and the gallery system.
"We are here to democratise the functioning of the art market and the gallery system. Galleries are private establishments whereas art fairs are brand identities. Both have credibility; over a period of time our art market has become more and more democratic through the activities in the secondary art market," he said.
36-year-old Kanta Kishore might hail from one of the remotest villages in Odisha but his awareness about different social issues that haunt not just India but also the world at large reflects well in his sculptures.
Kishore's works were all based out of 3-dimensional life-size sculptures of mythological books, implying that "we often choose to ignore the lessons that our ancient texts have to offer," he said.
To represent global warming, the artist had carved out a melting globe out of a thick stone-bronze book and to draw attention towards exploitation of women, he showed an iron burning the pages of a newspaper with headlines about crimes against women.
Kishore's sculpture "Global Warming" was priced at Rs 6 lacs.
The festival had also hosted an international edition at
World Trade Centre in Seoul.
The director said, "The Delhi edition is mainly aimed at the mid-level galleries who would like to get their value for a moderate expenditure, with some participation from major galleries as well. Thus, it is not only an affordable art fair for buyers but affordable for exhibitors too."
City-based Saranjit Singh, who has been working as a full- time artist for nearly four decades now likes to paint historical monuments in their architectural glory.
Apart from full sketches of monuments at his stall, there were also several closer, zoomed in paintings showcasing minutest of the details of the carvings on the walls.
Calling himself a "history type person," 56-year-old Singh said that he visited the monuments multiple times and painted them while he was at the spot.
Besides, the historical buildings of Delhi, the artist said has travelled extensively, particularly those rich in the cultural heritage like Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
His artworks were priced between Rs 5,000 and Rs 70,000.
A dentist by profession, Namita Karma works half days at her clinic to pursue here love for art.
Although her artworks seemed to be highly influenced by Picasso's cubism and collage making, the artist, who has been painting seriously from the age of 12 said she was not aware of the Spanish painter's works until she was well in her 20s.
Her latest work in mixed media exhibited the face of a woman created out of an assemblage of a variety of hardware elements, and rather high number of tiny wax apples concentrated in and around the lip area.
The artist had left the work untitled to offer viewers the liberty to have their own interpretations but if she was compelled to title it, she said she would have called it, "The Apple of Desire," for it was a reference to the temptation the biblical character of Eve had to consume the forbidden apple. Only, in the current day, the desire to devour is insatiable."
While there are scores of participants from within the country, the five international participants include Gnani Arts from Singapore, Kirsanov Photography from Switzerland, Myanmar Ink Art Gallery from Dubai and Segar Gallery from Sri Lanka.
P Gnana from Singapore had brought with him different sculptures of cow and a collection of paintings that spoke of relationships - mother and child besides lovers.
While the base metal of his sculptures is bronze, the Sri Lanka based sculptor uses waste like wood, iron scrape to shape his installation. For instance, instead of designing a tail for the cow, he has used an old paint brush.
"India Art Festival has a social and cultural responsibility and it is pertinent to take it to various cities in India. So, the Delhi edition opens with an unbiased approach. While the India Art Festival is the flagship brand, all the artists and the participating galleries become its ambassadors," Festival Director Rajendra said.
