Art of the matter: A silver lining?

Prominent aesthete, writer and poet Oscar Wilde remarked: ‘A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament,’ — so do Amdavadi art gallery owners and dealers also believe.

In conversation with DNA, these art aficionados reveal the real side of Amdavadi art buyers, their ignorance about real art, and what is required to update the next generation. DNA tells you about the difficulties Amdavadi art dealers face while trying to sell a good piece of work here, and what is their take on the present art bazaar in the city.

History, approach required for developing art industry, and the media’s role:
Anil Relia: The 1990-2000 was an era when people crowded the galleries only on the inauguration of an art exhibition. The other days were very lame with merely one to two people seen around the exhibits. But with the boom experienced in the art industry between 2002 and 2003, people flocked to these stalls inquiring about exhibitions, taking interest in the artists and their work. This was the changing note and a welcome trend.

Khanjan Dalal: Basically, each one of us specialises in something. And hence, while choosing or perceiving art, our own aesthetics get involved. Thus, while exhibiting an artist's work in our gallery we carry an agenda - which also showcases our strengths, due to which it does not turn into just a contemporary art form. There are few other things involved in it too.  

Awareness is definitely increasing and therefore, it becomes vital for media to come into the picture and create the right kind of awareness for art. What construes as art in Ahmedabad market, is a piece or object of investment, without being aware of what good art is and what art, per se, means! Just to know that a gallery has organised an art exhibition is not enough. Currently, things are not moving in a systematic manner. We want visitors or buyers to appreciate art considering the artist or the gallery's point of view, rather than saying that, it is beautiful or pleasing to the eyes, or suits the colour of the house.

Need for right people to write effectively on art
Harsh: Media should enroll an art historian or a person who critically talks about each and every art exhibition that takes place in town and give the right critique report, which will eventually help develop a sense on what art is all about.

Khanjan: Media should have people — either on payroll or on freelance basis — who can understand the artist's perception and his or her work and write an unbiased view thereof. Every write-up should defer from case to case.

Chaitya Shah: Ideally, people who write should be able to rate the show on the basis of each exhibition and artist. Readers can then, on the basis of this rating, decide on the exhibition they would like to visit. This will help them understand the difference between good and bad art and thereby, gain knowledge. Ratings would help highlight weak and strong points, and build awareness.

Dedicated place or a centre for art exhibition:
Harsh:There is huge economics involved in the art industry and business, per se, taking into consideration the involvement of the municipal corporation and other dealers or investors in art. With rapid urbanisation, there is tremendous growth within the corporation for example, the Riverfront, fancy landscapes and others. But the kind of art work being displayed is not up to the mark. Media should play an active role in helping the city turn aesthetically beautiful.

Anil: The Baronett House in the Walled City can be one of the options as it is located on the riverfront. Probably, we could come together to develop this with the help of MGMA and set up a museum. The building is of historical importance as it had housed works of Ravi Verma, Rabindranath Tagore and similar timeless pieces.

Khanjan: It is a nice idea but not with MGMA. I feel, rather than pumping in this kind of institute we are capable of formulating a body of our own and develop a museum — a place for everyone. More so, Delhi for example has decided that 10 per cent of every building project that gets completed will be devoted to making it aesthetically beautiful, thereby, enhancing the look of the building. Media's push in this direction might help build something on these lines in Ahmedabad.

Riverfront — AMC’s artscape
Harsh: We can have public open areas wherein installations can take place. This space can be aesthetically beautified.
Khanjan: There are many areas along the Riverfront that can be developed as a public space or centre for art exhibition. In fact the entire route can be made into a cultural route since we have Sanskar Kendra entry into Riverfront, NID entry into riverfront, building at Atma has an access to riverfront, Darpana and Gandhi Ashram too have access to the Riverfront.

Chetan Relia: All forms or types of art —performing, cultural, painting and the like — should come together on a single platform. They should all be looked at together for better understanding - which is the need of the hour. Only then you will end up having the same faces in every exhibition that you organise. More people should be roped in.

Rising art awareness and perception of next generation:
Harsh: In Gujarat art is either treated as money or as a form of investment, leading to social status or the urge to display a cultural background. But the next generation will be more educated and refined and they will grow up with an exposure to art at a very young age. Probably, they might also make an effort to understand the real side of art.

Chaitya: Currently, youngsters don't know much about art, as they have seen masterpieces in their homes, which were bought by their grandfathers. But they are definitely moving one step forward by trying to know what that piece of work is all about - they will also visit galleries to gain more information about it. This will surely create awareness in the future generation. More so, youngsters are also going out of the country to learn art — which is likely that the generation will look at art at a more aesthetic point of view than just investment. But Gujarat's art mart is still at a nascent stage and hence, it will take time to grow.

Affordable or expensive art
Harsh: In 80's and 90's and even till 2000, works of prominent artists were probably brought at throwaway prices. However, now they are un-accessible and therefore, these have become unaffordable. The idea is that once one educates oneself on art, he/she can spot with the right sense of information on upcoming artists and affordable art, which will help create a legacy for the next generation. That is how one can build an art collection — probably less than one per cent of India's population and also in abroad buy or purchase art, worth millions or billions of dollars.

Anil: But then again, you can never understand the right talent and art work without jumping into the business of investing in art. Therefore, one must plunge into the sea, to check its depth.

Youth reaction to art
Anil: Initially, artists worked considering to be a fight to finish, then whatever they got from it kept them contended and passionate - urging them to do more. Hence, they were always found doing something, success notwithstanding. But after the sudden 1995 boom, scenario has changed as the new generation of artists foresees big moolah. Their work also commences, once they calculate the returns they expect from their work.

Harsh: Surely, it makes a difference. Demand is continuously increasing and the supply is enormous too. We pump out into the market the best artists through the best art schools of India. But there are so many artists coming out that all of a sudden a gallery owner can't really think and it is very difficult to keep a track of everyone who is stepping into the market. There are many who intend to take up art as a career, as it is considered to be an off-stream profession and more lucrative. We are talking about big money and it is only going to get bigger. It is challenging for gallery owners to think on how to filter out the best and keep them.

How to evaluate art
Khanjan:  Time is the only factor that you see in retrospect, which can help decide on the true value of art. Art works are considered to be a witness to its own time, era, aesthetics, politics and the like. It is a mute expression of an artist. It helps give a fair idea of the time and his/her personal experience with time.

Harsh: As gallery owners, we try and promote good art and hence, suggest potential buyers why they should opt for a particular art work and not other. But the buyer's perception is different. In fact, they would buy the same art work outside India for huge sums worth crores of rupees, but not in India - thereby, proving that talent is more appreciated outside country than here. There is a need to educate people on how to buy and what to buy.

Suggestions to improve the scenario:
Giriraj Kadia: There is absence of an institution in Gujarat, which can help people learn what art is. The basic education to understand art is required so as to improve the scenario.

Nayana Soparkar: In France and Germany there are schools and colleges that visit art galleries, once every month. But in Gujarat art is treated like the stock market — 'what is the price now and will it increase in five years or fall'. Questions like these are very disappointing. Therefore, training and education should start at a young age.

Harsh: In Europe when working people are out for lunch and if they happen to visit a gallery. And if they like a piece of art they can pay $5000 for it and will definitely buy it. So it is not necessary that art is only for the upper segments. If people have the right exposure and knowledge on art then it can be super affordable by the masses. The whole idea is that the system needs to be exposed from a very young age.

Khanjan: A contemporary art museum could be of help, especially for those who cannot afford to buy art. In fact, the museum should have special programme for school children about an exhibition in the pipeline and conduct a tour for it. In this tour an art project should be conducted in the school and should be marked.

Chaitya:  I think schools and fine arts colleges should have a special course system, wherein students should report to teachers or principal a review on exhibition and the institute should grade or mark them on that visit. This would help them gain knowledge.

Learning art appreciation
Harsh: Publications should carry editorials about screening of an exhibition and also carry an unbiased critical analysis of the same - written by someone with authority on the subject. Probably certain leads could also be given away to important websites and magazines wherein, learning, understanding and appreciating art becomes a lot easier.  

Anil: Write-up is not enough for artist and exhibitions. Other things such as a small listings or awareness on the lines of what, where, when, so as to inform people about it.

Khanjan:  A very critically written one or two page art review on Sundays will help the cause a great deal when the need of the hour is a whole page dedicated to all forms of art. A seminar or conference on art appreciation may also help — since most often than not, our [art dealers'] advice are taken as a 'dealers' advice. And therefore, such seminars or conferences should be addressed as an art meet or art awareness campaign.

Anil: Buying art is like buying an expensive piece of jewellery. It should be bought keeping in mind one's own personality and whether or not the family will like it.

When selecting or buying an art work, one must decide what kind of piece will suit their wall or what comes to the mind, when seeing a painting for the first time. Once understood, look towards whether it is genuine or fake? Finally, trust your dealer when buying art, which is very important. You should ask the dealer about the art work and the background of the artist.  

Decorative piece — an investment deal or real art
Anil: Art sold as vaastu-based or the like are mostly gimmicks. However, art work is enlarged as per buyers' choice of size and colour. Most of the big houses in Gujarat have those dirty European or Indian art works that are blown out of proportion and are merely copies of the original. We, as dealers, do sell paintings from authentic artists at prices as low as Rs2,000, which is their original and signed work. But these are copies of the artist's original work and done with artists' due permissions. In this manner the aesthetics of bigger art works are retained in a small size and at the same time, people learn understand and invest in art, even if it means starting with a lower budget on a copy only to gradually move towards buying the original piece. But this kind of art should not be looked into as an investment. It is just to help you understand art while aesthetically enjoying the same in your living room. Appreciation of art combined with investment knowledge on the same needs to be communicated effectively.

Harsh: I agree with Anil as people only get cheated like this. Factually, art can be eye pleasing or extremely violent piece and such pieces seldom get sold. But the same piece gets sold for say Rs3 crore outside India. Now, this is a Catch-22 situation that we are facing today. If I have a client who is regularly buying art from me for say Rs5,000 or so, he or she will not buy something that costs Rs50,000 here, under some pretext or the other. Interior designers too match an art work as per the colour theme of a house. Now, how can I insist the artist to make a duplicate of his original work with a different colour! It is downgrading the artist — we should have objectives and goals to address with respect to art.

Khanjan: Harsh is right. We have very conservative buyers right now. We need to have buyers who appreciate and buy art work with an unbiased attitude.

Chaitya: I don't completely agree in blaming interior designers or architects for choosing something as per the colour. It is there job to choose art work on the basis of the house they are designing. But what we can do is help them avoid mixing art with investment. Both should be categorically divided as, 'art for investment' and 'art as a decorative piece'. So then they could opt for the latter choice or option. But if the focus is on investment then some other kind of art work needs to be seen and taken into consideration. One need to know that for growth the focus should be that investment and decorative art are separate.