HYDERABAD: Anjolie Ela Menon, one of India’s leading contemporary artists and muralist who created a revolution when she was barely 18 years old, shared her experiences with CE, as she presented a session on the ‘Journey of an Artist’ recently at NE WS Art Fest 2024.
Few memorable moments that shaped your career?
The first was when MF Hussain saw my work. I was 17 years old, and he decided that I should have an exhibition. So he organised the exhibition in a Delhi garden, and he set up the stands, he made the invitations. So that was a great moment for me. And then he took, that was 51 paintings. Then he took 20 of the paintings to Bhulabhai Institute in Bombay. And that was a wonderful place for Gaitonde and other great artists for painting. So that was a big break for me. The second was being given an invitation to go to America on the inaugural flight of Air India. So that was a great occasion. And to go there and to live in Fallingwater, which was a Frank Lloyd Wright House belonging to Edgar Kaufmann. And later, that has now become a museum. So to think that I was able to stay in that house was a great event.
How do you maintain consistency in your work? Do you have a daily routine?
Yes, I go in the morning to the studio, come back for lunch. Sometimes I go back in the afternoon because I paint in thin layers of paint. So it takes time for each layer to dry. So I often work on three or four paintings at the same time.
As an artist, how do you incorporate new techniques or styles without losing the essence of your unique style?
It develops slowly because I paint every day. So sometimes I’m painting a series like the Windows Series. So I continue to paint those. Then sometimes I’m painting the divine mothers. So I continue to paint those. So it’s an evolving process. It’s not sudden. The changes are not sudden. Most of your paintings reflect Indian culture and tradition.
Can you tell us the significance of those elements in your art?
I paint a lot of figurative paintings. I’ve never been an abstractionist. Even when everyone was painting abstract, even when everyone was painting cutting edge, I continued to paint in my own style for 66 years. I never changed one way or the other. So I was considered a maverick. But many of the things that I started are the artists seem to follow.
How do you perceive the reception and interpretation of different cultures and audiences worldwide?
I have a very good audience in New York. I’ve had a fantastic audience in Bombay. I have been very lucky, I think, to have a great response, wherever I have shown my work.
What are the challenges that you faced growing as an artist? I was lucky I had all the breaks. I was so lucky that when I was a young painter, 18-19 years old, there were only about 400 or 500 painters in the whole of India. Today, there are at least 15 to 20 lakhs. So it’s much harder for young artists today to find a place, to find a gallery, to find a signature, to make the work known. Whereas for us, it was easy because we were so few painting and the few critics that they were always wrote about us. I mean, I had very good critics writing about my first exhibition when I was only 19 years old. So I had all the lucky breaks. I don’t have anything to be disappointed about.
According to you, how can young or upcoming artists secure a prominent place in the competitive field of art?
I think as soon as they come out of art school, they start copying somebody or the other. Some will copy Husain, some will copy Manjit Bawa, some will copy some other well-known artist, like Prabhakar Kolte, especially the abstract painters. It is very easy to copy somebody. But to make your own signature, that takes time. And there are hundreds of artists. Some of them take to craft, some of them take to jobs, some of them teach. There isn’t room for everybody.
Your opinion about NEWS Art Fest 2024?
I was a little surprised that some very senior painters, like Ram Kumar, Hussain, are being shown alongside very young, emerging artists. Even though some of their work were not good, they were still given a place here which I admire.
Since you are in Hyderabad, can you mention any artist that you admire from Hyderabad?
There are many artists that I admire. Laxma Goud is a good friend of mine and I like the work of Gouri Vemula. I think she is a very good artist. And there are many other artists who are very good.