Businessman Aprem John was always interested in art, but did not think he was competent enough to talk about it or buy paintings. "I began to think and realised that I can make art generate some income for me and underrated artists from Kerala. I entered into a deal with Gallery G and have started to source paintings from my home state of Kerala. I am doing this to ensure that I can follow my interest in art and also provide an opportunity for artists from Kerala and their works to be exhibited outside Kerala." He has started a partnership with gallery G with an exhibit of a painting that aims at showcasing Adi sankara and his philosophy of Adveita vedanta.
He says, "You are considered a lazy person if you are an artist in Kerala. I saw that many excellent works are ignored in Kerala. I decided to help sell these paintings. I travelled across Kerala, scrounging for paintings and sculptures from art schools and individual artists."
For John, the journey helped him learn more about rare art from Kerala. “I discovered about aspects such as tantric art which developed in a unique manner in India. I found it very fascinating that art forms developed almost 3000 years ago have found prominence only in the last 200 years. I visited prominent locales such as Belur- Halebedu in Karnataka as well and was impressed by the artworks in these places. However, I feel that I should first promote the lesser known forms from my own state initially."
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