'See Art, Love Art, Buy Art'. The second edition of the United India Art Fair began here today with this tagline and a cornucopia of artwork.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar inaugurated the fair, which bills itself as a radical departure from established art fair models by doing away with galleries and letting people buy directly from artists.
The event showcases 300 mostly emerging artists along with a few established names.
"There are over 3,000 paintings here by more than 300 artists... Some of them are displaying their artwork for the first time. I think all art lovers must come and visit this fair," Kumar said.
Incidentally, Kumar's daughter and Delhi-based artist and designer Devangana Kumar, known for her works layered with painting, printing and decoupage, is also showcasing her work at the fair.
Spread over four halls at Pragati Maidan, the event has been put together by a six-member curatorial team helmed by gallerist and art collector Peter Nagy and comprising photographer and artist Ram Rahman and art critic Alka Pande along with Heidi Fichtner, Mayank Kaul and Meera Menezes.
While the fair debuted in 2012 with a larger number of artists, organisers said they had this time increased the number of works exhibited.
"This year we have lowered the number of artists and increased their body of work," said Annurag Sharma, founder- director, UAF.
Paintings, sculpture and photography continued to be the majority of works displayed but there was also space for graphic art, works of fashion and textile design and even ceramic and furniture design were displayed.
The maximum priced artwork ranges around Rs 30 to Rs 40 lakhs.
"The idea is not so much to sell rather than coming in and having fun. I have tried to make the Fair spacious and giving space for all the artists," said Nagy.
Noted names in the art and fashion world like Vivian Sundaram, Anjolie Ela Menon and Kallol Dutta were spotted.
"I am just getting a feel of the fair, there are a lot of interesting things. The fair is a place full of young talent," Sundaram said.
Among the interesting installations at the fair was one by Badal Chitrakar, featuring a beat-up Maruti Car affixed with some sort of a grenade launcher, fan and chains and titled "Self Defence".
