Art

Is ‘culture’ and its representation through art galleries ‘public’? This question came to my mind when I recently dropped by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Bengaluru after a gap of 6-7 months. When I attempted to walk in, a security guard stopped me at the gate, and asked me to buy a ticket. Surprised, I enquired if the gallery had started charging a parking fee, and pointed out that I was on foot. He said, “No, no, it’s entry fee. Everyone entering the compound has to pay.” Though he replied promptly, he seemed a bit annoyed. Perhaps other…

On our way for a quick birding trip at Basapura Lake, we were crossing Bommanahalli when our attention was caught by a car-pillar. We quickly stopped to take a photo, and when I put it up on my FB page, I got several details....this is a park, with an RTO (Regional Traffic Office) nearby, where people come to take driving tests. It's just referred to as a "Car Park", which I thought a nice pun! My friend Vidhya Sundar says there are many creations here, made from waste. She sent me this photograph of the plaque which gives the names…

I was invited to inaugurate Pavitha Ashwin's solo show at Chitra Kala Parishath (CKP) on the 11th of October.     The artist was very welcoming, as was her friend Bharati Suraj, who curated her works, to come up with a stunning show that highlighted Pavitha's love for nature and birds in particular. Bharati also brought out the evolution of Pavitha's talent from 2006, when she started painting to her recent work. Pavitha with friends at her show I found that Pavitha's ouvre extended to more than just simple portraits; I was particularly struck by her "Eyes of the Owl" series, and…

Instead of the stock Ganesha Puja photo, I thought I'd click some of the beautiful rangolis that I saw on my morning walk. So much art on our roads and footpaths, I felt like documenting and preserving these transient works.

The 208th Lal Bagh Flower Show has started in the city to commemorate the 72nd Independence Day. The show is being jointly organised by the Department of Horticulture and Mysore Horticulture Society. With the theme ‘Sevege Gaurvarpane’, the biannual event pays homage to the Armed Forces this time. The chief attraction is the model of Amar Jawan Jyothi, the memorial to the fallen soldiers of the country at India Gate, with the flags of the three branches- Army, Navy and Airforce. Behind it, as an impressive background is a replica of the Siachen Glacier with the models of Indian soldiers…

Namma Bengaluru has been going through rapid transition these past couple of decades. From a sleepy pensioner's paradise, it has morphed into a bustling metropolis causing and caused by the city’s neighbourhoods growing, changing and evolving. Yet, each locality, each neighbourhood has many stories to tell – it could be of the park that was built over five decades ago or of the place where authors of the city would meet to chat or of the place so far off that autos would charge 1 ½ times the metre rate to go there. There are so many stories that these…

Bengaluru's first Indie Comix Festival (ICF) showcased a host of self-published, alternative stories from over twenty comic book artists. The free, all-day event was held Bengaluru on May 20th, 2018, at the Rangoli Metro Art Centre. Art in Transit project of the Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology collaborated with ICF to host the festival. On display were a wide range of comics from tiny 10 rupees pop-up comics to original comic covers costing up to 3000 rupees. Started by a group of volunteers with aim of bringing independent, self-published comic writers and readers together, the event was dazzling…

I think it's a human trait to introduce an aesthetic appeal into the most mundane tasks imaginable. Surely, one would not think twice about the peanuts one purchases from the pushcart vendors, whose paper cones are getting so slender that they may accommodate only a few groundnuts. But the very selection of those recycled papers for the cones, and their arrangement, is so attractive visually...a fine example of art in commerce!

I went to visit Lalbagh on 3rd March, and was pleasantly surprised, at the area where the majestic Ficus benjamina trees are (leading from Kempe Gowda's tower to the Glass Hoouse) being used to set up some beautiful wood carvings, done on solid tree trunks. This seems to me to be a beautiful way of making a dead tree come alive again. Here are some of the carvings. The work is only one month old The installation is still under way. Less appealing was the fact that the title of at least one work and the name of the artist…

An artist friend insisted that I visit Lalbagh to check out his buddies sculpting dead trees at Lalbagh. I was intrigued and strangely had not heard about this from any other source. Also the customary visit to the flower show was pending, a ritual that cant be missed twice a year,  I headed off to Lalbagh this afternoon. As we approached the glass house on either side we spotted logs of wood taking different shapes and forms – Buddha, Ganesha, crocodile, a peacock  to name a few. Perched on a scaffolding was well-known Bangalore artist John Devraj working with an…