Putting artists at ease, gallerist Sara Arakkal’s 12th anniversary show encompasses artistic expressions beyond the inhibitions of a set theme. “Ever since Galerie Sara Arakkal was inaugurated in 2003, we started bringing out an annual show to promote new and fresh artists along with senior exponents, giving them a standard platform to showcase their works. Our annual shows do not have any theme. Our artists are happy and comfortable if there is no theme as such,” says Sara.
Giving youngsters incentive to concretise their passion for the canvas, this year, two upcoming artists have been instituted the Talekere Mohammed Award, in memory of Sara’s father. “We’ve had this idea of awarding the best students from various art colleges in Karnataka for a while. This year, we’ve started by giving awards to two final year students from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath -- Preetham R. and Christeena Shaju. They received cash awards of Rs. 25,000 each, along with plaques and a certificate in memory of my father. He was an aeronautical foundry engineer, who was also interested in art. Hence this idea of giving an award to remember him,” explains Sara.
Young expressions are juxtaposed with older mature artists at the gallery, making it apparent that collectively these works on display have merged the boundaries of time, space and age. “The art is the same. The younger generation showcases new ideas and forms in art and the older, accomplished artists maintain their standard of work.”
Focussing on the emergent themes and nouveau media in art, the younger generation of artists have sought their expressions in modern day surroundings and through simple characters around them. “For example, there’s a depiction of a child holding his mother’s hand in a children’s park and another, a manifestation of a selfie,” says Sara.
Juxtaposing artistic expressions across the spectrum, Sara’s repertoire for the season includes works by Achuthan Kudallur, Aishwaryan.K, Anuradha Nalapat, Asma Menon, Azis T.M, Babu Namboodri, Babu Xavier, and Bharathi Sagar to name a few.
The show is on till January 30, 2016, at Galerie Sara Arakkal, No.156, 4th Main, BEML Layout, ITPL Road.
