The last few years have seen lots of art galleries opening up in the country. It has also seen an increase in the number of Page 3 parties, where the art world’s who’s who make appearances, pose for photos and talk about art, society and world politics with wine and cheese.
But have these swanky parties actually given a rise in the focus on art? Has the artist, who spends lakhs of rupees in first renting a gallery and an equal amount, sometimes even higher, in promoting it, gets the attention he and the work deserves. Do these fancy art previews result in sales?
The answer to this question, says Anusha Naarad, marketing head of the newly-opened gallery Art Buy Appointment, most often is no. Once the dust settles around a preview, it’s a no man’s land. “And those who do come to visit an art gallery are not even serious about art,” she says.
Opened in partnership with financial consultant Ashish Vyaas, publicist Nandini Vishwanathan an Anusha, ABA aims to make sure that the artist and his works get due respect. The gallery has come up with a new strategy, it will remain open to the public for a few days (say two to three days), and then, viewing will be only by appointment. If anybody wants to meet the artist, with or without the intention of buying the work, can always fix an appointment. The artist will be there at the scheduled time. But wouldn’t that be distancing the public, which already seems to have a very little understanding of art, even farther? Anusha says, the aim is not to distance, but to filter out the uninterested crowd from the rest. “We want to bring the seriousness back into art viewing. And make sure that the artist doesn’t waste his/her time in the gallery, when he/she should be working in the studio,” she adds.
The gallery opened on January 18 with the show Nibiru Shall Also Pass, showcasing the works of artist-colour therapist Amisha Mehta and painter Prakash Bal Joshi.
Anusha and her partners are planning to open three more galleries in Mumbai, which will act as a centre to centre to promote upcoming talents as well. “The aim is to make as many walls available to the artists and at the same time take the paintings to where the buyers are,” says Anusha.
She stresses that exhibiting an artwork doesn’t come easy. “The average price for a seven-day show in most galleries comes anywhere above `1.5 lakh to `2 lakh. Then there is the cost of promotion, marketing etc. Most artists don’t have that kind of money. Over here our aim is to do all that for free,” she says.