“Dei, is this Justin Bieber da?” asks a ninth standard student. The group of students stand before a Justin Ponmany diptych, ‘Lie. The holes start falling II', at Contemplate Art Gallery. They are from GRD Matriculation Higher Secondary School, waiting to be introduced to the realm of art. Gallery Manager Varsha Salome Devakumar instructs them, “First, take a look at this selection of modern art. We will follow that up with a presentation.”
Around 35 boys and girls look at paintings they have never seen before. A Tibetan Thangka (silk painting with embroidery), Rajendra Kapse's oil on canvas self-portraits, Parida Rajan Manas' fibre art sculpture, Aditya Pande's ‘Bacteria of Wikkipedia' and few other works of modern art from industrialist Rajshree Pathy's collection. Colourful stickers provide information related to each piece of art work.
While one boy is busy counting the number of children in a Fang Min painting, another tries to list out the materials used in Aditya Pande's abstract. Soon, Varsha gathers the students together. “Which painting in this gallery did you like the most?” she asks. While almost all the boys point at Symon's ‘King of Pop', a Warholesque painting of Michael Jackson, the girls seem to love Justin's diptych with its shiny holograms and rich colours.
The presentation begins with a question, “What is the earliest form of art?” Pat comes the reply: “Cave paintings”, and Varsha talks about the earliest cave painting in France and Indian wall paintings. “Since then, art and colour have gone on to become a big part of lives,” she says. The slide presentation then introduces students to different kinds of art forms. It also speaks of various media that could be used to create art. Starting with Monet's ‘Bridge over a pond of water lilies' and his impressionist style of painting, Varsha explains that “art is something that could be created with skill”.
Master painters
The slides feature some must-know art works. They include Amrita Shergill's paintings that recorded Indian lives, Edward Munch's ‘Scream', a Jackson Pollock abstract, Bharti Kher's bindi art and the origin of Picasso's cubist art form.
Varsha talks about Vincent Van Gogh's ‘The Potato Eaters' and how the artist drew inspiration from coal miners. A comparison is drawn between Van Gogh's ‘The Potato Eaters' and Vivek Vilasini's ‘Between one shore and several others', that is on display at the gallery. Varsha tells the students that art is not only about paints and canvases. She cites examples of Nalini Malani's video art, Atul Dodiya's shop-shutter art and Subodh Gupta's installations made out of everyday objects. The presentation concludes with her informing them about a career in art.
Niresh Kumar, the physical education teacher at GRD Matriculation Higher Secondary School, who accompanied the students felt it was a ‘useful exercise'. He says, “The kids really enjoyed it and took back something informative from this experience. I only wish there were more paintings on display.”
Students Sudharshan, Akshay, Manickkavasagam and Hari say they now perceive art differently. “Even though I want to be a nanotechnologist, I will take up art as a hobby,” says Manickkavasagam.
Acquiring a taste
Hari is planning to download art works from the Internet and says when he makes enough money he will start collecting paintings.
“I never thought this visit would turn out be this interesting,” says Mitra, who confesses she came on the outing only so that she could miss classes. Subhiksha thinks she could be an artist too. “Now, we will get back and start scribbling more often. For that's art too,” she says.
