Art in the gallery

A pop up library, a table of food serving up a plate of Crabe Farci A La Creole, a printmaker studiously engraving pieces of linoleum, with a first-cut board up for all to viewu00a0-- works of art aren't the only things one gets to see in the private art gallery anymore

Video: More than art in the gallery

On August 1, people visiting The Loft art gallery in Lower Parel, were greeted by an unusual sight. A table, laden with unpronounceable, yet artistically crafted delicacies, like Les Etoilles De Roquefort, Crabe Farci A La Creole and La Tarte Aux Fruits Frangipaneu00a0-- Roquefort stars, baked crab and fruit tart -- stood beside the door.


Artist T Venkanna makes prints at a press located near his workdesk.
For seven weeks, a South Mumbai gallery has been converted into his
studio, as viewers watch him at work. pic courtesy/ warehouse on 3rd
pasta lane

Conceived by Frederic Fernandez of Chez Vous, a fine dining French restaurant in Churchgate, the dishes were as much part of the exhibition as the works of Agathe Bailliencourt and Sukanya Ghosh that hung from the walls.

Even for the experimental white cube that The Loft purports to be, this piece of work was novel and startling.u00a0
Titled The Five Senses: Les Cinq Sens, the exhibition was held in partnership with Alliance Francaise and Chez Vous, to celebrate the third anniversary of the gallery. For that one day, owner Anupa Mehta decided to push the envelope of what should be displayed inside an art gallery.

Like Mehta, gallerists around the city seem to be lending their spaces to showcase more than paintings or other new media art works. As the monsoon, traditionally regarded as slow season in the industry, continues unabated, galleries are throwing open their doors to new practices, in a bid to re-engage viewers and draw in a fresh crowd.

The Warehouse on 3rd Pasta Lane, owned by Abhay Maskara, has been converted into a studio for T Venkanna since July 19. Visitors to this Colaba gallery can see the 31 year-old Baroda-based artist chipping away at wood cuts and pieces of linoleum, as he creates a new body of prints from scratch.

Over the weeks, the 'first cut' board, placed in front of Venkanna's desk, has filled up with paper cuttings, prints, colours and other experimentations by the artist. The walls too have filled up, as Venkanna is also creating a maquette to pitch for a show in New York. Every now and then, he walks to his print making press, located close to his desk, and runs a metal plate filled with special ink through it, to create a print. If he likes it, it makes it to the first cut board.

Maskara admits that he is doing something that he has never attempted before. On his part, Venkanna seems completely at ease with visitors peering over his shoulder to see him wipe his ink-stained hands on a rag. Almost all visitors look surprised -- seeing an artist at work is clearly not their idea of a gallery exhibition.
May I eat that stuffed crab, please?

At the anniversary celebrations of The Loft, besides the table of food, a red chandelier hung from a beam, nearly touching the floor. A wooden chair lay upturned at the centre of the gallery. Above this setting, two screens showed a video of ballet dancers, while a different soundtrack played French music. The idea of bringing disparate objects, including a music score and video that do not go together, was deliberate, says Mehta. "Usually, in a gallery, things are antiseptic and orderly."u00a0u00a0u00a0

For Mehta then, the idea to throw in food, light, music, and ballet dancers along with works of art that addressed questions of 'absence' and 'loss', was to distract viewers and shake their notions of what a conventional gallery should look, or feel, like. Mehta's experiment aimed less to elevate food to the realm of art, and more to expand the definition of art itself.

"The art world needs to loosen up and experiment a bit more," says Mehta, adding, "We can only test new ground if we test the viewer." Which is why, when people began to nibble on the tarts and the crabmeat on the display table, Mehta just shrugged and let them eat, although there was another table of food meant for visitors.

"The role of the gallerist is changing. We are not just organisers, presenters and curators working to exhibit and sell works," she says. "Gallerists are also now drawing attention to the process of creating and defining art."
Maskara agrees. By converting his gallery into an artist's studio for seven weeks, he wants to demystify the process of artistic creation.

An open studio is an opportunity for viewers to get closer to the creative process -- how the artist works and the stages and experiments he/she makes before arriving at the final outcome. Viewers can also ask Venkanna questions and clear any doubts they may have about the printmaking process," he says. The result, he points out, is that the response of the viewers shifts. From being mute observers, they become active participants.

Easing up in a gallery where unexpected things are happening, is simpler, pointed out Aparna Khera, a 28 year-old television producer, who visits exhibition openings regularly. "It's always interesting to see new things happening in a gallery, which is otherwise, a fairly intimidating space for newcomers," she said. This, in turn, could turn into a definite economic advantage for galleries as well.

For instance, Venkanna's prints cost lesser than his paintings, since, even while each piece is original, he is making several editions. "These works are more affordable, and to that end, more democratic. This is also an opportunity for people to buy original works of art at a lower price," says Maskara.

For Matthieu Foss, whose gallery in Ballard Estate is currently holding a group exhibition of photographs retrieved from stock, throwing open the gallery to new -- and not necessarily 'arty' events -- makes sense.
For one, he admits, monsoon is a slow time, when visitors don't come in, although, he points out, things begin to pick up in August. Nonetheless, a solo show at the gallery is still some time away. In the meantime, Foss has lent his space to Mumbai-based artist Apnavi Thacker, to organise a pop up library from August 16 to 26.
Foss hopes the pop up library will bring in a different crowd to the gallery.

Excited about the idea of the library, Foss explains how it would work. "People are invited to drop off books on art, poetry and literature that they are willing to part with, till August 15. We are in the process of making a library stamp that will be put in these books. For the next 10 days, visitors are invited to come by and browse through the whole collection. At the end, those who donated books can take back a similar number of books they gave away."

For Thacker, the event is an exercise in cutting money out of this exchange of knowledge, and seeing whether a barter system would work. "I'm quite clear about the kind of books we are hoping to show in this library, and it definitely doesn't include the Grishams or the Archie Comics," she laughs. "I'm hoping people share rare and important books that others can learn something from," she adds.

Such a library, agrees Thacker, would gives visitors a chance to re-engage with the gallery. "Galleries can be very daunting and removed from the person on the street, whether kids or art students." For Foss, this library is just the beginning. The whole point of having a space like a gallery, is to transform it, he points out. "I wouldn't mind holding a fashion show or a showing of designer objects, like a collection of tableware," he says.