Street turns Mecca for artists, art lovers

It was a virtual art lover’s paradise at Kumara Krupa Road on Sunday. Chitra Santhe held near the Chitrakala Parishat presented various slices of life through eye-catching paintings and art work on display.

Tigers, elephants, forests, rural India and urban, abstract and modern, it was all there framed pretty for art connoisseurs. One of the stalls which saw a huge crowd was that of Naveen Kodical, an artist from Mangalore whose portraits of Mother Teresa and Sai Baba caught everyone’s eye.  Speaking to Deccan Herald, Kodical said he was participating for the first time and enjoyed every moment of it.

He felt that meeting other artists and studying their mode of work was the greatest benefit he derived. Another aspect was the price of the art work. “When you come to a place like this and see a crowd visiting various stalls, you will know what people are interested in and the price there are willing to pay for a work. This has been an invaluable learning experience for me,” he said.

Hemanth Kumar, an artist from Hassan had something unique to present at the art fair. Hemanth uses old glass bottles thrown away as junk, for his paintings. “A few years ago, next to my workplace, there was a shop which collected junk bottles. Many of it were thrown aside and once I attempted painting on the bottle. The oil colours I used got faded as the paint was on the surface of the bottle. So I came up with the idea of painting on the inner surface of bottles,” he explains.

Kumar depends on commercial painting works such as banners or hoardings, for a living. He fears losing his livelihood. “Everyone uses print outs these days,” he says adding that if he finds an alternative source of living, he would take it up. People do not buy art works unless they are priced low. This hardly compensates the travel expenses for the show, he said.

“This fair is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to. There are quite many pieces of work which I would love to take home, if only they were affordable,” says Roopa, employee of HP.  “I would hate to put price to such beautiful works of art and bargain with the artists. I know that these painting are worth the price they quote. Unfortunately, it is beyond a middleclass budget,” she says.

A few artists on the other hand, had a profitable day as their works of art sold fast. Indu, a BFA student at Chitrakala Parishat sold about 50 of her paintings priced about Rs 450. Her theme was portrayal of life in Africa. She opines that paintings of sceneries do not appeal to today’s customers while abstract and modern art is in vogue. Apart from paintings, instant portrait sketching, puppets and sculptures beckoned people to Chitra Santhe.

Prize winners of drawing, painting contests held by Deccan Herald/ Prajavani: Face painting: (First prize): Manoj Kumar, Karan Jhakar (junior group) Shruthi Nalpet, Rashmi Devraj (senior group)
Painting (first prize):  Atharva K (sub junior group),  Hrithik Shridhar (junior group), Harshita G (senior group).