Stalking all things art

The last episode talks about the noir film series, Phantom Lady

Incubation is an inescapable step in artistic creation. Galleries incubate. They rear artists, helping them find a world that responds to the culmination of years of work. A gallery founded by Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy in 1963, Chemould Prescott Road's new podcast series pairs art-makers and thinkers for a glimpse into their perception of the artistic process and its immediate environment. Called Stalking Art, it records conversations around the stimulus for staying current and political, the practices of art rooms with no quick-to-access archives, and more.

(From left) Aashna Patel in conversation with Shireen Gandhy

Why the title, Stalking Art? Aashna Patel, who manages strategy and sales at Chemould, says, "It is a play on ‘talking' art, while letting people follow it unabashedly." The series was Patel's idea. In The Gallery as Witness, she chats with Shireen Gandhy, Chemould's director. This episode effectively starts the conversation, giving the listener an overview of the space's journey. Gandhy shares, "Podcasts help you venture into terrains of intimate experiences. In this medium, we can allow ourselves informality." She adds that being at the core of the politics of artistic expression helped her appreciate art beyond its decorative associations. "The delicate strokes of Nilima Sheikh touch me, but they don't let me miss her strong political voice," she says.

Atul Dodiya with Kaiwan Mehta

While Gandhy's favourite episode is the exchange between Aditi Singh and Anurag Khanna where they share profound emails on "poetry and the smell of paint", our pick is the fun reciprocity between artist Atul Dodiya and critic-theorist Kaiwan Mehta. The two discuss Bombay as an enlivening backdrop. Dodiya recounts his visits to second-hand book arcades and is conscious that parts of the city mirror different timeframes. For those who've migrated to Mumbai for work or love, interpreting a city through recollections of readings and characters is a method - one to find many homes across timeframes.

Recalling Memories, the second episode, featuring artist-power couple Reena and Jitish Kallat, could have been a separate podcast in its own right. Although it refers to art continually, it mostly stands out as an individual chapter, and less as part of the collection. But while the overall podcast automatically takes an art/city-enthusiast under its wings, it could be a bit abstruse for the uninitiated. Nonetheless, we found some good in ‘stalking'.

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