Amidst growing realisation that viewing and buying of art works cannot be confined to a limited few, there are spaces coming up which make it comfortable for people from all walks of life to see and enjoy art works. This was evident at the art exhibition, “Masala Mix”, held recently at Cafe de Art, Connaught Place. Organised by 1000 Words, the venue allowed the viewers to interact and talk about the works with co-diners and art connoisseurs. The viewing hours up to 10 p.m. made it convenient for professionals to visit the show.
The visitors got a chance to see varied styles and themes at “Masala Mix” as it included works by artists Chanchal Ganguly, Dinesh Kumar Parmar, Riddhima Sharraf, Sadhna Porwal, Satish Gharage, Shyam Sharma Sunita Lamba, Hemant Pari and Sukanya Aynakus. While Ganguly’s “Eternal Love” depicted the relationship of women with nature and how a woman's desires and dreams are often suppressed by the society, the Face series of Shyam Sharma explored the genesis of human emotions through the colour riot he created on canvas. For artist Satish Gharage, a woman's closest confidante is invariably another woman and his Intimacy series depicted the dynamics of a woman-woman relationship. Sharraf, whose works are inspired by tana bana (warp and weft) work of silk weavers, chose to explore contemporary themes in an urban milieu on her canvas. The layers of the canvas done in that style symbolised the ups and downs of life. One particular oil and acrylic on canvas by Sharraf drew a sharp contrast between the Delhi of today and that of the past. The use of bright blue colour depicted Yamuna of the past when the river was not polluted with the black hue which the water body reflects. The elephant in the same work symbolised how people in Delhi showed off their wealth and power. She hopes that the viewers would weave their own story through her paintings.
