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The dot of art and life
RANA SIDDIQUI
A few years ago, serious artists like Vivan Sundaram could be seen fuming at the sudden spurt of small art galleries in the Capital. "They are merely art shops. Please don't call them art galleries," he would insist. "In India no art gallery owner has done a course in lighting in art galleries which is actually a specialised course in the countries abroad, especially in the U.S. And that's why the lighting part in most galleries is not what it should be," rues India's first trained curator from the U.S., Alka Raghvanshi. Now, Vivan or Alka are moaning much. Meanwhile, some art galleries are not only doing a commendable job minus that lightning but also putting up a brave front against those accusing them of merely making money. Recently opened Polka Art Gallery at A-326 Defence Colony is trying to make waves as a serious art gallery, not averse to the commercial aspect though.
Aarti Singh, the owner of the gallery, is known to some in the Capital for her Studio for Contemporary Art, an art gallery that she launched sometime ago in Defence colony itself. It was closed when she fell ill. But now with her new Polka Art Gallery, she is not only trying to "revive old contacts but also promoting new talents in the field." The gallery spread across 700 square feet area with huge vertical and horizontal focussed lights finds polka dots as its introducing element. Hence, you find polka dots in the staircase that guide you to the gallery, polka dots on the water glasses, polka dots on the candle stands and some on chairs too. "Polka gives me a Zen feeling. It reminds of the shoonya or infinite. We are surrounded by polkas every where, be it our own earth, moon, sun, eye balls or even the objects at home like wall clock, hence the title," she reasons. She also launched the gallery with an art show in which different artists defined polka in their works in their individual style. From Bulbul Sharma to Mona Rai, Seema Kohli to Ram Kumar, S.H. Raza to Shridhar Iyer and Ved Nayyar to Yusuf Arakkal, the ongoing show called Polka One expresses the artists' vision of polka.
Promoting deserving artists
Aarti who has been involved in art activities "for more than two decades", says, "I have been observing trends in art since long. My gallery is not among those one rooms in the houses of rich people used to hang certain painters just for the purpose of sale. I am promoting deserving candidates for which I go to art colleges and also see recommended names. Most art galleries promote their own artists but I am open to any good, new or old, artists who should be known to the people." People whether they are educated about art or not, now believe their own instinct about art. "Most people prefer an amalgam of realism and abstract rather then completely realistic or abstract. Earlier people going for abstract were miniscule even in minority," she says.
In this gallery you will find some data bank on the artists you are buying and soon there may just well an interactive workshop on art and art appreciation. The next show that starts from January 11 brings a new artist from Vadodra called Pousha Das for a solo exhibition.
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Art has got a new address in the Capital. Welcome to Polka Art Gallery.
Polka gives me a Zen feeling. It reminds of the shoonya or infinite.
PROMISE OF REAL ART Aarti Singh at her newly launched Polka Art Gallery.