Monday, November 4, 2013

Artist


Couple of years back when my art gallery friend from New York arrived here in India, he
 unwittingly asked me how does all these artists survive without working? 

When I suggested to him that they are artists and they are surviving on art, he could not believe that idea of so many artists is surviving only on art! He told me there are couple of lakhs of artists there in New York, but to survive their all of them work outside art or connected to art to keep their practice intact. 

Juxtaposing that scene with another happened during my visit to Cochin biennale, when I was introduced to a gallery enlisted artist by my another artist friend as I am also working with an design institute, he dismissively said “oh hobby artist..” By declining my handshake gesture offer as he walked away without even bothered to have a curtsey response. 

Although my friend artist felt very bad about it, I could not control my smile as I know him working two to three pieces of art work every year  doing a dismissing act about  persons like me who work 365 days and still do what I wanted to do as practice. 

Other day my colleague showed me a thick book of German expressionists having more than thousand names listed in it and told me “ strangely we know only a few!”

Do any of those names will make it any lessor artist than those celebrities because of my ignorance about them? Fortunately that history book does not differentiate them for their continued practice.

If you look at Indian art market it is very easy to find the carrier graphs of artists in terms of money and fame peaking for a period of two to three years and gradually decline there after. In comparison to contemporary artists, pre market modernists were better off as they did not have much market to count millions so they were surviving on establishments like academy for much longer time and hence had a longer practice to showcase. 

Unfortunately what many of our contemporary cutting edge artists missing is their practice that otherwise would have given them a longer sustenance against novelty value market demands. 

Other day my journalist friend jokingly said that the biggest spectator of Indian contemporary art is now storage vaults and the biggest appreciator is its blinding of dark. Like those artists, their art works also struggles to remain in limelight 

Three years back my art criticism student went to meet her art icon of contemporary art scene in Mumbai, whom she revered like a sachin Tendulkar of cricket but unfortunately had to came back after a week, furious and frustrated. He not only did not keep up his appointment with her but kept on changing his appointment to the extend that she had to be there in Mumbai for a week. Even after when finally she got the appointment he called her to an elite restaurant where he was with a film star and couple of media person, where this art student was made to sit through his theatrics. On her arrival the first thing the frustrated kid did was throwing all her collection of cut outs and printed material about that artist into dustbin. This artist did not realize the loss he made! 

The problem is what my American gallery friend pinpointed on his visit “ Indian contemporary artists consider “trade as their art practice and not their art practice for the trade”

He may be right or wrong I am no one to make the judgment but looking at the
Art students of these days who believe or the market make them believe that their first line is the stroke of genius and are incapable to differentiate between exploration and an artwork, networking and practice, I am losing the scope of alternate view point. 

Recently an art promoter friend with whom I have had a very long good friendship, quoting his newfound  friends told me that I don’t realize I am losing out on art and my works are not relevant. I did not take any offence on his comment, as I knew where it is coming from.

What these people are not realizing is that art is happening at many levels in this country. It not only operates from where things are ordered to produce and sell, but also takes place at road side posters maker’s place, in art teachers class rooms, in rural and urban schools, artists working for melas, films, theaters, temples, interior designers, artists working with establishments, around art camps, fellowships and academic or art practitioners who survive on universities and residencies . It is a vast avenue for art in this country. Everyone is contributing to art and earning even as they are far from those auction house and gallery catalogues. 

Artists who buy spaces in media and art magazines to print their name should not preach to those whose name does not reflect in those pages as being rudimentary. I am not against being successful in terms of money, fame and name or the necessary advertisement and propaganda networking associated with it, But that cannot be the benchmark to make judgment on others. Certainly Storage valut art cannot dismiss market art of public that are more visible and contributing to visual culture of this landscape. 

Let us accept every artist work towards what they understand and believe, give them their due, their space and if possible help them to continue. I have seen hypocrisy of many artists from India who love the money of capitalists, sell them their work and blame that poor art appreciator as social menace for the only crime of buying those artworks. 

More over contemporary Indian art any way is a flux where you can pick; photo realistic work, modernist work, pop art and conceptual art from same gallery/ art fair and all of them claim to be contemporary. Nothing wrong about it but should understand that art also happens beyond their glitter world. 

Among many art engagement invitations and information a small letter from an unknown museum curator of a small French town, to this irrelevant local artist fell from the table inviting to be participant in an art celebration to commemorate a poet who survived Nazi concentration camp. Artist in me felt happy as I don’t earn my life from my art work but from my art.