A salute to the batting maestro

The art exhibition features 10 contemporary Indian artists who have created their own art on different mediums based on an inspiration drawn out of Sachin’s life on and off the field

December 18, 2014 12:56 pm | Updated 01:03 pm IST - Mumbai

Sachin Tendulkar after inaugurating the art exhibition "Deconstructed Innings", in Mumbai on Wednesday. December 17, 2014. Photo: Vivek Bendre

Sachin Tendulkar after inaugurating the art exhibition "Deconstructed Innings", in Mumbai on Wednesday. December 17, 2014. Photo: Vivek Bendre

As you walk into the National Gallery of Modern Art, a sound of window shattering jolts you. And a woman starts screaming in Marathi. Some time later, the same happens and this time she screams in Gujarati. There are a few more languages that this woman seems well versed in. But you will not find her at the gallery because she screams from a speaker hidden within an art installation by Sunil Gawde simply titled “Pause”.

His façade of a grey building that could be anywhere in middle-class Mumbai, with a multimedia component, is part of the contemporary art show “Deconstructed Innings — A Tribute to India’s Greatest Sporting Icon”, inspired by Sachin. The exhibition’s opening on Wednesday was attended by the man himself.

“It gives me great pride to have these 10 artists from our own country create something special about my life. These artists have produced something magical. I am an art admirer and collector but even then I did not realise that art requires so much effort,” the maestro said while addressing the media during the opening.

The exhibition features 10 contemporary Indian artists who have created their own art on different mediums based on an inspiration drawn out of Sachin’s life on and off the field. Each artist interacted with the cricketer himself to learn about what drives him and unearth nuggets of information that would then shape their work.

This is one exhibition where art needs no interpretation or explanation but just one’s attention – to the details of Sachin’s life on and off the field that have inspired these works of art. There is a’City of Dreams’ by Remen Chopra where Sachin’s achievement statistics, his love for Mumbai combine to present a structural representation of the city’s skyline. ‘Arrival of Cricket God’ by Manjunath Kamath is a reflection of every fan’s belief that Sachin is God. The famous picture of Sachin in his childhood – long haired, shorts-wearing and bat-weilding – is represented among a pantheon of gods from a variety of faiths and myths, complete with a glow.

Artist Vibha Galothra’s work has text and visual references from Sachin’s personal life including a letter written by Sunil Gavaskar to a young Sachin. As explained by the artists, they are “depicted on highly polished metal surfaces that reflect the viewer’s image while also metaphorically representing an interpretation on truth and self-reflection.” 

“This is an idea that has been two years in the making,” says Kiran Desai, Founder, Tenart who has co-curated the exhibition along with noted art curator and writer Veeranganakumari Solanki. “Sport connects everyone but art doesn’t. People don’t even know our artists. So what better way than to use sports to promote art by combining them both,” he explains.

The other participating artists are Trilochan Anand, GR Iranna, Hema Upadhyay, Jagannath Panda, Riyas Komu and Shreyas Karle.  The exhibition is open to the public till February 15, 2015 at the National Gallery of Modern Art. 

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