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ShareIf you see 'Closed for Renovation' signs outside art galleries in the capital don't be surprised. Galleries are being turned upside down; inside-outside in a frenzy to shed their third world image -- to be more, as it were, state-of-the-art. And in a few cases even gutting interior spaces to make duplex galleries, doubling the space to include the newer avatars of what also goes, increasingly, as must-have art: installations, video art and mammoth sculptures. It's almost as if some fairy godmother (the modern day equivalent could be Art funds and venture capitalists) had gone into superdrive waving her wand, transforming the dowdy Cinderellas of the art world into beauties for the great big ball: the art mart, now in overdrive, with the collectors (Indian and foreign) as the new Princes in our updated fairy tale.
It's not just keeping up with the Jones in the world of gallerists and dealers, although there is a soupcon of the domino effect. Gallery Espace is being completely transformed into a huge duplex gallery with the last word in lighting. Art Alive moved a few months ago to a larger space, also two floors and spanking ones. Vadehra Art Gallery acquired another space, a quasi-museum size space in Okhla. Bodhi Art is cavernous and Nature Morte went double-decker a couple of years ago. Even the government seems to be coming out of the Dark Ages: Rabindra Bhavan in the Lalit Kala premises has introduced air-conditioning and improved its lighting considerably. Perhaps other museums will also take their cue from the galleries and tart up a bit to become more viewer-friendly.
All this hyperactivity and reaching into somebody's deep pockets has equally to do with catching the artists fluttering like butterflies from gallery to gallery, more sought after than seeking. Film stars, fashion designers and sports stars have to move over just a wee bit to make a little room for the new "cool" celebrity in town: the artist. Why, artists are even becoming ambassadors for products. Last week painter Amitava Das was appointed ambassador for Remy Martin, a premier cognac. This must be a first, an alliance between lifestyle products and artists. Earlier there was a subtler kind of branding, but branding no less: M F Hussain's forms adorned saris and Parker pens. If I were in the branding business I would most definitely have Hussain endorse shampoos-when it comes to crowning glory our most famous nonagenarian has a head of hair Dimple Kapadia or Ashwariya Rai could well covet. L'Oreal, are you reading? Asian Paints or Nerolac could also pick up the strong palette of a Tyeb Mehta or a Manjit Bawa. Come to think of it since a growing tribe of painters is veering towards the decorative a few could easily endorse interiors or gift-wrapping paper.
I am digressing: this column is really about the changing face of Indian art galleries. They have come a long way from the post-independence days. Many of the galleries, like the prestigious Chemould in Mumbai or Dhoomi Mal in New Delhi, had their origins in shops that framed paintings. Apparently, when people walked in to get a painting framed they were attracted by the other works that had been framed and hung on the wall, awaiting their retrieval. The owners of these shops soon cottoned on to the fact that selling paintings might prove more lucrative.
In the decades that followed there was a spurt of galleries-many of them little holes in the walls or garages. Remember the deluge of so-called "art galleries", when anybody with a spare garage and access to fashion magazines, and a magpie-eye, were churning out "designer" salwar-kameezes by the thousands? Art rapidly became a cottage industry.
Today, there is a welcome degree of professionalism-and ambition. Good-looking, occasionally well-documented catalogues and books on artists are now more the rule than exceptions. Gallerists and their backers have an eye on the international market. A few are planning to set up shop overseas: Singapore, New York, and London, reaching out to the Indian buyer then to the NRI and finally to the NI (non-Indian). Even Shanghai is calling. Not a week goes by without a curator, gallerist, or an art historian from overseas dropping by on reconnoitering missions-or our homegrown curators bustling about putting together shows abroad. These are good times indeed but we need to put up a Danger Ahead sign: more style than substance can cause skidding. Art has to be more than style-deep.
Email:jain_madhu@hotmail.com
