Stretching the canvas at 50

As Artworld — Sarala’s Art Centre celebrates 50 years of its existence, Sujatha Shankar Kumar walks through ‘Golden Tributes’, their exhibition of contemporary Indian art

April 15, 2015 05:58 pm | Updated 05:58 pm IST

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16mpart2

As Shashi Tharoor notes in his recently released book India Shastra , any Rip Van Winkle who went to sleep some seventy years back and woke up now, would find India unrecognisable. The pluralist character of India and our contentious and lively society, about which Tharoor writes, is as pervasive in the arts: every artist has hewn a path, rough or complex, unarguably his or her own. This search for an individual identity is explicit in the show that celebrates 50 years of Artworld (originally Sarala’s Art Centre) where no two works of art look alike.

With pioneering art gallery owner Soli Daruwala’s recent passing, his daughter and gallery owner Sarala Banerjee wanted to pay him a tribute, celebrating his achievements on his birthday, April 4. The show has important artists whom Soli knew from the 1960s and achieves a pan-India representation culminating 50 years of the gallery, which opened in 1965. Sarala’s daughter Anaheeta says, “The show is all about goodwill for my grandfather. All the artists responded unhesitatingly. It made me think of how a man almost effortlessly made his way into the hearts of many. I would like to be like him.”

The wide variety at the show aligns with Artworld’s interest to represent a diverse range of artists. L. Munusamy’s ink on paper is possessed by his masterful strokes and elusive forms that appear and disappear as we get absorbed in his painting. Even if each is different, geometrical relationships and exploration of dichotomies through a structured language show subtle commonalities in the artists of the Madras Movement, seen in Gopinath’s delightful play of colours and Senathipathi’s intersection of forms. “It was very rushed to co-ordinate 83 artists. We have attempted to represent as many artists as my father worked with, senior ones from the South such as Munusamy, Perumal, Surya Prakash, Laxma Goud and Bhaskaran,” says Sarala. Her husband, Bishwanath Banerjee is enthusiastic, “We established contact with several artists after many years and they responded superbly. Most of them made works specifically for the show.” The show has given rise to a revival of expressions.

Artist Ram Kumar painted an abstract landscape. Anjolie Ela Menon sent an engaging portrait of a character. C. Douglas created a remarkable mixed media in obscure and dreamlike patterns. S. Nandagopal’s search to introduce colour in sculpture triumphs in his quixotic work ‘Head’ in welded copper, brass and enamel. An archer is poised with three arrows while keyhole patterns accompany the shaft behind; the “picture surface” directs us to consider finding the right match to accomplish our target.

While most works are on sale, Sarala also contributed from her private collection. Anaheeta is sentimental about an M.F. Husain self-portrait and would never allow the family to part with it. “I remember that my grandfather gifted the painting to my father. For some reason, I always liked it very much.” Arriving from Bombay in the mid 1960s, Soli Daruwala often wandered into the College of Art, and senior artist Bhaskaran, a student at that time, first encountered him there. “Bombay was known for art. Madras was experimenting.” Tracing back to the beginnings, Bhaskaran draws parallels between the pursuit of ideals between the then Madras and other metros such as Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi. “After Independence, artists were looking for a new direction. I am happy to have been part of that movement — though there was hardly any effort towards saleable art.”

Not all galleries that ventured to sell contemporary art, survived. Sarala emphasises that Soli and Moti Daruwala did all the path-breaking work; hers and the current generation have had a far easier time. Since those barren years for artists, when few could sell works, today there are many galleries and people looking at art as investment.

Soli always encouraged people with a rare generosity. When Anaheeta was still a student, he let her take as many works from his collection to sell if she liked. She affirms, “That somebody could trust me enough to gift me a legacy to handle was highly motivating.” Soli’s democratic outlook has been his greatest gift that the family takes forward with pride. “I believe that art should speak for itself,” says Sarala Banerjee. “It is not for me to dictate what is good or bad. People should elect the artist and the trend should be set by the buyers, not the seller.” Sarala’s perspective for healthy trends correlates with Anaheeta’s vision for the future to promote cross-cultural influences. “I would like to create a more global centre — have an art cafe and an art museum, especially aid artists who find it difficult to showcase their work.”

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