Art Buzz: Finding Utopia, Mumbai

The Art Loft and Shoeb Mashadi present Finding Utopia (opening on 11th April 2014 at The Art Loft), a monochromatic noir journey into human emotions featuring supermodel Tamara Moss as the protagonist.

'A journal of everyday chaos and mundane chores - but you lift the veil, dig deeper and there are fragments of what lies inside each of us - the millions of questions about the uncertainty of life, a sense of loneliness and longing to belong to something or someone, or a longing to break free and wander to a road that draws us. To escape the neurosis of the mind and find comfort and security in dreams, dreaming on and on and never coming back - to escape from unrequited love.

This journal is a metaphor of the emotions, feelings and thoughts that are a part of personal experiences. In a candid, non linear narrative, the protagonist represents the morbid that lies in us all - deep within our subconscious. A realm of memories and a scar for life'.

Shoeb Mashadi, a fashion and portrait photographer based in Mumbai is noted for his strong individualistic style which is an eclectic mix of fine art and commercial portraiture and has photographed a number of celebrities and supermodels as well as shot for leading fashion designers, cult movie directors, prime television channels and internationally acclaimed restaurants. Last year, Shoeb Mashadi represented the country as one amongst ten photographers in the world who were selected to be a part of the TEDx photo chain, a part of the TEDx annual event held in Amsterdam, where his work was exhibited.

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Artist Profile: Manisha Vedpathak

This week we profile Manisha Vedpathak,a contemporary Indian artist, who currently lives in Ghana, West Africa. Being a self taught artist, her images have evolved over the years from realism to abstraction. Her background in Engineering helps her with composition and shapes. Manisha reveals,“My paintings create positive vibes and bring the viewer the sense of joy I feel when painting them. It is a shared feeling and I am glad when my paintings become doors through which my audiences can visit worlds of fantasy and reverie”.

Verve...The Energy

The earthy colors used in Manisha's paintings not only connect her emotionally to her Indian origins but also depict the warmness of the African continent where she now lives. Having lived in Ghana for over a decade, the influence of Ghanaian culture and art will be seen in her art.

Manisha participated in the Art fair held in Accra and she has also featured in the November 2013 issue of the magazine “Women in Art278”, which is dedicated to showcase Women artists from around the globe and in the Janaury 2014 issue of the“Indian Talent Magazine”, an online magazine showcasing Indian artists.

Threshold

Kaleidoscopic

You can view more of her works here.

Art Scene India now features artists on a regular basis. If you wish to be profiled on artsceneindia.com, please send in your submissions according to the UPDATED guidelines listed under Submit.

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Art Buzz: Exhibition "Amrita Sher-Gil" at NGMA Bangalore

NGMA Bengaluru is happy to announce the inauguration of a prestigious Exhibition titled "Amrita Sher-Gil: The Passionate Quest" Curated by Yashodhara Dalmia, on Sunday, 30th March 2014 at 5.00 pm. The exhibition will be on view till 30th April 2014.

In conjunction with the above exhibition, NGMA has also organised a curatorial talk titled "Amrita Sher-Gil: Life in Art" by Yashodhara Dalmia, Curator of the exhibition, on Tuesday, 1st April 2014 at 6.00 pm. (Text and images courtesy NGMA Bangalore)

Artist Profile: Spoorthy Murali

Today, we profile Spoorthy Murali, an Engineer turned artist. She has renounced her IT career to pursue her life’s calling – fine arts. The translucency and fluidity of watercolors have always allured her and inspired her to experiment on different subjects in this medium.

Spoorthy's rustic Hampi series paintings, rusty Vintage Automobile series, paintings of busy Bengaluru’s lost sparrows, paintings of languid elephants of the wild, and effervescent people portrayal have all been very well received at various forums. She has brought out a vibrant series of watercolor paintings which celebrate the colors in daily life of common man in India (aam aadmi), which she dotingly calls ‘Colors of the Mango people’. She believes in soaking in the subtleties of daily life, may it be the trellis of light and shadow that trees create on roads, the drama in the shadow play while kids play in the sun, the beauty in the sunlit dancing golden waves of a sea and so on. She loves to paint every beautiful sight and hopes to see more colors in this transient world!

Spoorthy is a self taught artist and has worked with watercolors, acrylic and charcoal media. She has participated in various group shows in Bengaluru, Mysore, Cochin and Mumbai; and her paintings have found homes across India, USA, UK and Canada. 

Art Scene India now features artists on a regular basis. If you wish to be profiled on artsceneindia.com, please send in your submissions according to the UPDATED guidelines listed under Submit.

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Social Cause: Empowering Artists from Raghurajpur

Empowering artists to create a sustainable model for livelihood and helping them conserve local folk art traditions.

It is a travesty that folk artists and craftsmen who work laboriously for hours have to struggle to make a living out of it. Ironically, in the process they contribute enormously in keeping local folk art and traditions alive. Folk and tribal arts and crafts are hugely popular with foreign tourists and the urban population, and yet despite their popularity these artisans receive only a small percentage of the sale amount. Commissions by middlemen and prices involved in handling the logistics make a huge dent in the amount which is received by the artists. 

This is a story intrinsic to every region and most vernacular art forms. There are only a few folk art forms which are lucrative for the artists and their families, for instance Gond and Madhubani art forms have entered mainstream galleries and with their contemporization, these have become popular as well as acceptable in higher price brackets. However, not all artists benefit even in these cases.

A social initiative #DoRight draws attention to artists from Raghurajpur – ‘a heritage arts & crafts village where every villager is an artist, and every home is an artist’s studio’. The village is famous for its master Pattachitra painters, an art form which dates back to 5the century BC. In fact, the families in this village practice various forms of traditional Odisha art, such as Pattachitra, tal chitra, silk painting, stone carving, coconut painting, betel nut painting, papier mache & masks, cowdung toys and ganjappa playing cards. Their artworks draw inspiration from mythology, religion and folklore.
 

Following an intensive process, these artists prepare the ‘patta’ – material which is made to look like leaves and natural colours; they then outline the design and fill it with vibrant colours. Each artwork can take anywhere from 5 to 15 days and sometimes even longer, maybe even months. Based on the level of detail, intricacy, finesse and the size of the paintings the prices vary anywhere from Rs 500 to 2 lakhs.

As this village enjoys a heritage status (in the year 2000 by INTACH) it does bring in many domestic and international tourists who buy paintings directly from them which benefits them immediately. However as this does not happen on a continuous basis and there are often middlemen involved, there is a huge disparity in the amount which the artists receive through the year.

In an effort to empower themselves the artists plan to sell the artworks directly to the customer through a dedicated website, which they hope to set up as soon as they can raise enough funds with our help. The #DoRight  initiative has the potential to have a ripple effect and inspire other communities of folk artists also, so they can aim for self-sufficiency and not depend on middlemen for their income.

So, here’s hoping that they soon succeed in their endeavors and are able to create a successful model which can sustain the artists' existence and also their art!

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