Art galleries add new colour

BANGALORE: Here’s a journey that deserves to go down in the city’s history books. Within a decade, Bangalore has grown leaps and bounds in the art scene. Journeying alongside were those art galleries that are now saying “what a ride’’.
Art galleries, places where art, mostly contemporary, is meant to be shown, artists introduced and love of art encouraged, were none of these things just 15 years ago.Says vice-president of the Chitrakala Parishat Trust, H.K. Kejriwal, “Art galleries showing modern art were non-existent 15 years back. There was absolutely no awareness or interest among Bangaloreans then. The only art people were interested in was the Mysore and Tanjore styles. Nobody would buy a painting unless it was a Ravi Varma.’’
The first modern art gallery was launched in Chitrakala Parishat and today, Bangalore has over 50 across the city. According to gallery experts, a lot of credit goes to the changing cityscape and population that has been coming in. The ‘software’ crowd, usually well travelled and exposed to art in different parts of the world, are the main buyers. This is especially true because it is mostly they who have the time and inclination to decorate their homes with branded artists. It is also they who know their art well.
More offices, corporate culture, restaurants with chic themes, well read and travelled housewives have encouraged art galleries across town. Better marketing and awareness too has helped.
It is now, after a lull in the business for the last six months, that the art gallery scene is finally picking up albeit with some changes. Though there is no typical ‘Bangalore art gallery’, there is a common thought — going beyond showing just branded art.
Some of the noticeable changes in art galleries involve the cost of the art that is on display. The average prices of paintings in galleries are between Rs 25,000 and 40,000, simply because gallery owners are realising that there are very few buyers who would spend more than Rs 40,000 for one painting. There was a time when Bangaloreans would spend Rs 10 lakh per painting that is now a “fashionable’’ thing in Mumbai or Delhi.
“But, art galleries are still something only the upper middle class or upper class are visiting, though the hangover that art galleries are only for the elite has gone,’’ Renaissance Gallery’s Shreen Malani said. In spite of this, galleries showcase younger artists, newer names and paintings that have a a mass appeal.�There are not many connoisseurs of art. The common man prefers more decorative art. There is a change in galleries that are now going by the pure form of art. There’s a lot more variety and people prefer something pretty and beautiful,’’ Malani added.
Another trend is that galleries have become more personalised, going out of their way to make customers feel comfortable and involved through ambience. They are also going a step beyond just showing art. Three-month-old Mahua in RMV Extension is one such gallery. According to Gallery director Meenu Jaipuria, art education is the need of the hour. She regularly holds art camps by various artists to spread the ‘faith’. There is more awareness about the customer that has brought this on. “Some people like graphic or figurative art. Others go for big names, younger artists, splashes of colour or more serious prints. It also depends on where the art will be put... it’s different for offices, homes, restaurants or malls,’’ she added.
Apart from just paintings, blown glass exhibitions and folk art and craft are also showcased in art galleries currently. Another change, notices Renu George, director, Time and Space Art Gallery on Lavelle Road, is that there is more networking and consensus of opinion before launching an art gallery now. “There is more acceptance of contemporary art and more awareness. Shows are planned to bring more people into galleries. But people should visit regularly, look at work and like it. Galleries are focussing more on visual awareness,’’ George said.
Clearly, galleries have arrived. And like Kejriwal says, “Within two years, Bangalore will be almost on par with Delhi and Mumbai as far as art galleries and the business goes. Do not underestimate this business. Galleries are the most happening thing on the art scene now.’’