In its darkest hour, humanity has always looked towards art for hope and sustenance. With public spaces turning into no-entry zones, artists and galleries are rising to the occasion reinventing themselves and building a bridge to connect with the masses.
Delhi-based Art Alive Gallery has launched a new initiative, #ArtForHope, on its digital platforms (Facebook, Instagram and official website).
A virtual series, it showcases art works that the artists are creating during the lockdown, and also invites them to talk about how they are spending time.
Sunaina Anand, Director of Art Alive Gallery, says, “We have in every true sense become ‘One World’ where our fears, anxiety, aspirations, hope and prayers are the same. Over the last month, in my conversations with our artist friends, one thing that has stood out is the optimism in their thoughts—a hope for a better tomorrow. It is our endeavour to bring forward a series where we take you to the experiences of the artists and the works they are creating during this time.”
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Through specially curated talks with stalwarts in the field on its digital platform, the gallery gives art lovers a peek into the life of the many artists.
The online exhibition boasts new works by the artists that are inspired by the present and look hopefully to the future.
For example, Jatin Das’s canvas speaks of the plight of migrants; Anjolie Ela Menon talks of hope and peace that is so needed in this day and age; Jayasri Burman’s work is about ‘Dharitri’ (the universe), which has been suffering and how we must take care of her; Jogen Chowdhury brings the deadly virus and man face-to-face in a never-ending battle; while Tara Sabharwal’s art also rings in hope during dark times. Artist Chandra Bhattacharjee, whose canvases evoke pastoral distance and a whimsical rural India, full of muted colours in an almost monosyllabic palette, is hopeful of drawing something surreal, “There’s so much uncertainty around us... a magical figure will one day jolt me out of this dark slumbering limbo.”
The initiative will keep growing organically with more artists joining over the next couple of months. At present, some of the participating artists are Anjolie Ela Menon, Paresh Maity, Jogen Chowdhury, Sakti Burman, Maite Delteil, Ranbir Kaleka, Jayshri Burman, Krishan Khanna, Jatin Das, Gopi Gajwani, Debashish Mukherjee, Chandra Bhattacharjee and Tara Sabharwal.Elaborating on how she is managing to create art during these times, given that her studio which is in Nizamuddin Basti is away from her home, art doyen Ela Menon says, “I converted my living room into my makeshift studio. I do not have many canvases at home but I still manage to paint for an hour or two every day to keep myself occupied.
I’m lucky to have my family close to me. We are five of us and we keep each other occupied by playing games and watching videos together.” For another veteran artist, Krishen Khanna, the present scenario has not really changed his daily routine. “At my age, I don’t go out. I like to spend the day in my studio where I’m always surrounded by my friends on the wall,” he smiles. While Khanna is not really perturbed, artist couple Sakti Burman and Maite Delteil, who generally spend the summer in their home in the south of France, are stuck in the Delhi heat and are taking recourse to art.
For octogenarian artist Gopi Gajwani, whose oeuvre covers all forms of visual creativity—from painting, photography and designing to cartooning—the initial days of the lockdown were a difficult time. But he soon realised that it had a positive side too, “I could focus on my work without getting disturbed from the world outside. With small-sized canvases, I am exploring various mediums—oil paints, acrylics and even charcoal on mixed media. Apart from these, I even started drawing and doodling which I hadn’t done in years. My drawings proposed a quiet reassurance of life and its mysterious beauty that moves us beyond comprehension. It reveals itself in unexpected and random moments, emerging at times from hidden corners and from behind the veils of the unfamiliar.”