Gallery Time and Space presents an exhibition of Cholamandal artists, titled “Contemporary Small Format Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures and Drawings”, starting today.
The exhibition will showcase artworks by the artists from Cholamandal, the artists’ village in Tamil Nadu. The exhibition will showcase artworks by more than 25 well-established as well the upcoming artists who belong to the Cholamandal group, including P. Gopinath, S. Nandagopal. S.G. Vasudev, M. Senathipathy, K.S. Paniker, Anila Jacob as well as Shyam Sunder, Jacob Jebaraj and S.Hemalatha.
“We were the first to conduct a small format art show in the country. In these shows, we display small format works measuring only one foot. What happened at that time was that corporates started buying the artworks in bulk, but the whole idea, people said was for the artworks to reach out to more people. And so we stopped conducting the small format shows, after deciding that we would sell only one artwork per person,” says sculptor Nandagopal.
“The idea of this show is to attract young collectors who can afford to pay Rs. 30,000 to 40,000 because many of them say they can’t hope to acquire artworks that are priced in lakhs. At the same time the prices don’t affect the artist because the size is cut down.”
This year is also marks the 48 anniversary of the Cholamandal village, which started in 1966. The village is now sustained by sales from artworks, as opposed to the sale of mainly crafts earlier, says Nandagopal.
“But the village is still meant for those who have passed out of art schools and are looking for a place to work on their full-time without the necessity for a job.”
The exhibition will also showcase the book “Cholamandal: An Artists’ Village” edited by Josef James, published by Oxford. The book will be available at a subsidised rate, especially for artists.
The exhibition opens today at 5 30 p.m. at Gallery Time and Space, 55, Lavelle Road and will remain on view until October 5. For details, contact 22124117.
