Hi Everyone,
Launched in March 2010, ‘Art Bengaluru’ was started with the aim of celebrating art in its various forms. The idea behind the 10-day festival was to bring a multitude of artists and artforms from across India and the world under one roof, thus promoting art awareness as well as a deeper understanding of the arts. With advances in technology, as the world of Art grew to include newer and more exciting forms, ‘Art Bengaluru’ grew with it. After seven successful editions, this annual art soiree has grown to become one of the most reputed art festivals in India today. The venue for Art Bengaluru is the highly-acclaimed, The Collection, UB City which is conveniently located in the heart of cosmopolitan Bangalore. Needless to say, the Tuscan architecture of UB City complements the art festival by creating an illusion of fluent expanse. Art displayed in this landmark area promises to enhance aesthetic awareness and create a sensory delight for the viewer.
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‘Art Bengaluru 2018’ starts with a bang!
· Opening Night witnessed Bengaluru’s art loving
community coming together to show their solidarity for the Festival
· Art Bengaluru 2018 is taking place at the landmark UB
City from 02 – 11 November 2018
‘Art Bengaluru’, the city’s first
ever and only art festival commenced with a Grand Opening Night on Friday – 02
November 2018. The evening witnessed Bengaluru’s art lovers gathering at the
beautiful UB City to interact with the artists and view the various exhibits on
display. The evening started off with Ms. Uzma Irfan – Festival Director, Art
Bengaluru addressing the audience. This was followed by a mesmerizing
performance by The Flying Drummers who fascinated the audience with their beats
while being suspended mid-air. The Closing Act for the evening was a unique
performance by Madpoi - a flow arts performance troupe from Mumbai which
enthralled audiences with their LED poi spinning acts. Weaving circles of light,
they morphed between pattern and frequency, fusing performance art and
technology.
Apart from
this, individual musical performances by Aman Mahajan (Pianist) on the Ground
Floor, Nush Lewis (Harpist) on the first floor and Raman
Iyer (Saxophonist) at Sublime Galleria on the 8th floor
created the perfect ambience as guests walked around The Collection, UB City
admiring the artworks.
With its
inception in 2011, ‘Art Bengaluru’, brought about a new dimension to the art landscape
in Bengaluru. For a city which had never really been known for art, the birth
of this annual art soiree not just created a niche for Bengaluru on the
national art map, but it also grew to become one of the most loved and
anticipated art festivals in the city. One of its biggest highlights was the
fact that it is held in The Collection, UB City – one of the
most popular destinations in the heart of Bangalore. For 10 days, anyone can
enter the festival for free and view spectacular works of art across a diverse
spectrum of mediums and styles, displayed with museum-class display
infrastructure under one roof.
The 2018 edition
of Art Bengaluru brings together 17 Indian artists and over 200 artworks
across 24 exhibits. With workshops, curated art walks, art
installations and larger than life sized works of art all across The
Collection, UB City, this is indeed a sensory treat for all Bengalureans. The
artworks range from INR 13,400 – INR 65L.
The artworks
range from photography, photo media, mixed media artworks, oil paintings,
acrylics, pen and ink drawings, sculptures (from wood, steel and paper) and
video projects. One of the highlights of the festival is a 30’
by 8’ oil on canvas by Saju Kunhan that, despite being created in 2011, has
never been previously exhibited due to a lack of a large enough exhibition space.
Inspired by Saju’s first experience of a “mega city” - Mumbai - the detail and
scale of the work is mesmerising and should not be missed.
Moreover, by
hosting it at The Collection, UB City, Art Bengaluru aims to create art awareness for the masses as the
artworks have been put up throughout the mall and hence, is not targeted only
at art lovers coming in specifically to see the art. It is targeted at everyone
entering UB City - to inspire curiosity within them for the beautiful works
around. With curated art walks, the
festival also aims to contribute to art
education among both children and adults. Art Bengaluru 2018 has partnered
with several schools (Parikrma Centre of Learning, Srishti
Institute of Art, Design & Technology and Dr. Beltran’s Animation School, to name a few) to take their students
through curated walks to help them better understand and appreciate the arts.
Commenting on the
event, Ms. Uzma Irfan – Conceptualizer / Organiser, Art Bengaluru &
Director, Prestige Group said, “Stress has
become a significant and integral part of the very existence of modern society
as we know it. We are a society in the grip of epidemics of anxiety, obesity
and depression. In such a scenario, we need to find alternate avenues to
relieve our stress and find moments of happiness in the smaller day to day
things around us. One such avenue is art appreciation. Recent studies have
shown that art appreciation promotes quality of life and makes one feel good.
When you look at a beautiful piece of artwork, it releases dopamine in the
brain that incites feelings of pleasure while significantly bringing down
stress levels. The language of art, as expressed through sounds, colours,
shapes, lines, and images, speaks in ways that words cannot. Whether you
experience the arts as a creator / artist or as an art lover, you can gain
great pleasure and enjoyment from all kinds of art.”
“It therefore
gives me great pleasure to present the 8th Edition of Art Bengaluru.
We welcome each and every one of you to come and enjoy the myriad offerings of
the festival.”, she added.
Mr. Abhishek
Naidu – Curator, Art Bengaluru 2018 said, “Art in
India still sorely lacks the awareness, appreciation and support that it
receives internationally. Inconsistent governmental support and a lack of
pro-art public policy, a dearth of quality galleries, museums and public art
spaces, and only a handful of accessible art education institutions create a
dynamic where art is largely misunderstood or ignored by the public. While the
last decade has seen some positive development on this front, we are still a
ways away from meaningfully bringing art to the masses and creating a society
that is aware of, and takes pride in, the art and artists of their country. Art
Bengaluru’s aim has always been to aid in the Bangalorean front of that fight
by bringing a selection of works from a diverse set of artists to UB City, thus
bringing a much-needed injection of art to the city, along with a wonderfully
disarming onslaught of emotion, insight, perspective and reflection that is
unique to an enriching art experience.”
About the Artists:
· Balan Nambiar: A master with over 60 years of
experience, Mr. Nambiar’s forms dance elegantly between symmetry and asymmetry,
and are often inspired by childhood memories and symbols associated with the
ritual arts. He will be showcasing two stainless steel sculpture exhibits apart
from a body of jewellery enamelled paintings that have never been exhibited
previously, as well as a selection of mild steel sculptures.
· Gurudas Shenoy: Reputed artist, Gurudas Shenoy
will be showcasing his natural and urban semi-abstract canvases, with an
extensive collection at Sublime Galleria on the 8th floor as well.
· Kavita Jaiswal subsequently contemplates
existentialism and perception through abstraction via mixed media works on
canvas across two exhibits.
· Vipta Kapadia: Will display a collection of
ephemeral abstractions in oils
· Chandan Bhowmick: Will showcase vivid
terrestrial abstractions in acrylic
· D Venkatapathy: The senior most living founder member of the Cholamandal Artist Village
and an important member of the Madras Art Movement will showcase large linear
hillscapes in pen and ink on paper from 1986
· Yuvan Bothysathavur , S Ravi Shankar &
Ganesh Selvaraj: With these 3 exhibits, symmetry replaces fluidity while
paper and wood replace paint and ink. Though stylistically unique, these
exhibits are tethered by strict geometrical forms employed by the artists; from
the perspective-altering curves and lines of Yuvan’s work on plywood, to Ravi
Shankar’s architectural laser-cut paper sculpture that transform in different
angles of light, and Ganesh’s intense assemblages of magazine paper on board.
· Devangana Kumar & Rohaan Sulaiman:
Their works feature photography and photo media. Devangana’s large format
digital recreations of mid-nineteenth century postcards based on Indian servants under
British employ strive to reinstate the identities of those commodified subjects
and critique the culture of direct and indirect servitude still present in post-colonial
Indian society. Rohaan’s documentation of Naga tribes and wildlife explore
themes of migration, adaptation to rapidly evolving habitats and preservation
of tradition.
· Parvathi Nayar , Romicon Revola , Ashu
Gupta & Saju Kunhan: Parvathi’s exhibit explores water in its
simultaneous ubiquity and scarcity, portrayed through the entire spectrum of
perspective - from bird’s eye to microscopic. Romicon showcases two video
projects and a central sculpture: the former meditates on a single drop of water
and the latter engages with the phenomenon of the urban sprawl, while the
sculpture attempts to address them both. Ashu, the festival’s youngest artist,
attempts to reconcile her despair about Bangalore’s lost trees through a series
of pen and ink drawings on canvas. The bridge features the largest work of the
festival: a 30’ by 8’ oil on canvas by Saju Kunhan that, despite being
created in 2011, has never been previously exhibited due to a lack of a large
enough exhibition space. Inspired by Saju’s first experience of a “mega city” -
Mumbai - the detail and scale of the work is mesmerising and should not be
missed.
· Ashish Dubey and Pallon Daruwala: Their
works feature semi-abstract photography. Ashish’s works disarmingly capture
natural abstractions and, on first viewing, more closely resemble a Kandinsky
than the documentation of dying wetlands that the works actually represent. One
of the city’s most acclaimed photographers, Pallon’s exhibit features a
selection of works from the new edition of his Vertical Horizon series,
which aptly titled, capture a diverse series of subjects and settings from
perspectives that are as thought provoking and disorienting as they are
captivating.
About Art
Bengaluru
Launched in March 2010, ‘Art Bengaluru’ was started with the aim of celebrating art in its various forms. The idea behind the 10-day festival was to bring a multitude of artists and artforms from across India and the world under one roof, thus promoting art awareness as well as a deeper understanding of the arts. With advances in technology, as the world of Art grew to include newer and more exciting forms, ‘Art Bengaluru’ grew with it. After seven successful editions, this annual art soiree has grown to become one of the most reputed art festivals in India today. The venue for Art Bengaluru is the highly-acclaimed, The Collection, UB City which is conveniently located in the heart of cosmopolitan Bangalore. Needless to say, the Tuscan architecture of UB City complements the art festival by creating an illusion of fluent expanse. Art displayed in this landmark area promises to enhance aesthetic awareness and create a sensory delight for the viewer.
Till next time....Keep it STYLISH By Nature !!
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