“The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them.” — Anton Chekhov
Venkatappa Art Gallery has been in the thick of things post the VAG forum protest that gripped the gallery. It has been hosting some interesting art shows, and one such show concluded this week. The art show was a collaborative effort by eight young and emerging artistes who are passouts from the historic Ken School of Art. Artists Abhishek, Ramachandra, Nagashree, Pooja , Ramya, Mynu and Akshay have created wizardry through multi-dimensional oeuvres. The exhibition was a unique juxtaposition of drawings, paintings, sculpture and print making by the young artist. The title Mundane Eight blends perfectly with the artworks as the artistes have tried to capture the mundane elements of the city’s urbanscape. Detailed elements in paintings were also the common elements crippling the city — issues like the recent Cauvery riots. One of the artistes, Akshay Bhat, a sculptor and painter says, “My work in the exhibition is titled Daily Pages. I have tried to sketch and document creatively, and captured people’s reactions, emotions quirkily, focusing on things in and around my world which excite me. I am intrigued by how people react and relate around me.”
Akshay Bhat
Other artistes in the group like Ramachandra L tried to dig deep into the city’s water woes which have been rising alarmingly. He portrays water like an equally precious element similar to gold, which in the coming days is bound to escalate the in value, through his creative process. Ramyashree has shed light into the city’s traffic woes and demons and has tried to show how the city has become such a pain and apathy to commute. Since she travels everyday from Electronic City to the city centre, she has tried to trace her difficulties through her strokes. What the group feels is, that every artist must paint their very existence. According to them, in an artwork, if an artiste is able to express the narratives in a very creative and uncliched manner, then the work gets an exclusivity. In this visual vocabulary, the artistes have tried to reflect the Visual Reality in a
visibly expressive and creative form which according to them is a small step towards a long journey. The way the artistes have toyed around with the idea of romanticism, issues crippling the city, picking mundane elements and instances, makes this show unique. In a nutshell these artistes have celebrated the multi-cultural and diversity of the city and its surroundings. The show concluded on May 10.
— The writer is an art expert and curator.
