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Steeling the show
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“Saptarishis, An Encounter with Steel”, demonstrated the potential of this metal.
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Experimentation A work displayed at the exhibition.
Stainless steel and you think pots and pans and spoons. But no longer. Stainless steel became art at a recent exhibition at New Delhi’s India Habitat Centre. Curated by Alka Pande, this exhibition was the brain child of Deepika Jindal. “S
aptarishis, An Encounter with Steel”, was a celebration of the metal, through the different and signature works of seven sculptors.
Large installations
Starting from the Visual Arts Gallery, the work was spread across the grounds of the IHC. They were large installation works that varied from the actual to the abstract. The seven artists, Valsan Koorma Kolleri, Pankaj Panwar, Shiv Verma, Sumedh Rajendran, Karl Antao, Vivek Vilasini and N.N. Rimzon, moulded steel to their individual interpretations. While steel, the artists’ confirmed, is a “fascinating medium”, most sculptors can’t work on it as the material itself and the techniques required are expensive. But having the architectural division in the Jindal Steel factory, in Manesar, to use as their studio and workshop, the artists got an opportunity to explore the medium. Available usually in sheets, tubes and pipes, the challenge was to make steel pliable. Since it cannot be cut easily, smaller pieces have been shaped and welded to give the impression of a single large piece. Steel can be cut only with laser jets and water jets, which is a difficult process that often requires technical help.
Jindal explains the process, “Since stainless steel is an industrial metal, it can’t be moulded easily. For example, when making a human form, you can’t make all the facial details. It does need a lot of engineering. But the joy is to learn how to play with it.”
Play is what the seven artists did. Highlighted by floor lights, these large works transformed the landscape of IHC. If some pieces obeyed the wind others impressed with the contours and curves of the metal. Vivek Vilasini’s large installations showed how steel can be both delicate and strong. Vilasini says, “A piece of art should communicate a feeling.”
His works communicated different messages to different viewers. “Story Hearers” conveyed the sense of how myths provide shelter. “Theatre at Intervals” treated death with a gentleness. The potential of steel was made apparent in the filigree like panels of the mausoleum that he has created.
Shiv Verma, in his “Inspire the Megalomania”, series explored the process of industrialisation. In “Trapped”, Pankaj Panwar movingly created the claustrophobia of a fish in an aquarium. “Invisible Circle” by Rimzon created a circle through lines.
The exhibition, which concluded this past Wednesday, was noteworthy for showing how steel can be as strong as girders and as fine as filigree.
NANDINI NAIR
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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