Art for Concern, an exhibition of contemporary artworks is bringing 45 artists and displaying 70-75 artworks from across the nation at a platform where the art lovers and collectors can enjoy the curation.
“The objective of the exhibition being held annually for a decade in the city, is to help the NGOs working in the areas of health, education and community development,” says Hyacinth D’costa, branch manager, Concern India Foundation.
The exhibition does not follow any particular theme. One can also find the premier artworks of established and budding artists on the official site of ‘Art for Concern’ and buy them from there.
We catch with a few artisans who give us an insight into their artwork, inspiration, and journey. Excerpts...
Purvi Parmar
Ahmedabad-based artist Purvi Parmar (30) creates thought-provoking artworks. She has been working as a painter and a printmaker since last six years.
“In printmaking, zinc plates, wooden blocks, lime stones, etc are used and different techniques are employed. It is a beautiful art where the material is different from canvas and paper,” says Parmar who has been associated with ‘Art for Concern’ for five years.
She says that an artist does not expect anything other than people understanding and appreciating their art and giving it its due value. And Art for Concern is helping artisans to reach out to different audiences, she feels.
Parmar takes inspiration from her surroundings and tries to include it in her paintings. She uses pencil on canvas as the medium to work with and this minimal use of colours allows her to highlight specific objects in her work. It helps her to communicate a balance of colours and shapes, she says.
“It is as difficult to convey a message for an artist as it is to understand for the viewer. Every artist goes though this difficult phase and with time and experience, it becomes easy to express with minimal chaos on the canvas,” she says, adding, “Today, even if they don’t understand an artwork, people will still stop and look at it. This is a big achievement for every artist.”
Shreekant Kurva
Shreekant Kurva (51) from Hyderabad has been working as a painter for the last 25 years and is associated with Art for Concern since 15 years. Art has always been an important part of his life as his father too was an artist and encouraged him to choose art.
Kurva uses canvas and acrylic colours.
He also uses copper and gold in some of his artworks. He is planning to present his work to textile companies soon.
The artist who has observed many trends, says, “Young artists today are doing wonderfully well, however, the teachers are not helping them build a strong base. Earlier, everything used to be made from hand, but everything has changed due to digitisation.’
Kurva’s artworks depict animals and human figures. For his collages, he picks up roosters, goats and bulls that are very commonly reared among Telangana families, exemplifying his rustic identity.
His colourful animals and roosters fashioned with pieces of jhari silk borders show enormous movement and dynamism.
Kurva is happy that he is being able to contribute to some social causes through this show and says that the biggest satisfaction for him is that his artwork is helping the needy.
Avijit Mukherjee
Taking inspiration from the streets of one of the beautiful cities of India — Kolkata, Avijit Mukherjee (51)has been telling stories through his art since last 25 years. A self-taught artist, his works are personal stories and imageries. One of his artwork series called ‘Faces’ has simple motifs around which the artist knits a complex narrative, leaving ample space for viewer’s imagination.
Says he, “How one understands art differs from person to person. Nowadays, there are not many people who are truly into art and understand it. However, my art is very simple, funny yet engaging; anyone trying their hand at reading the art can master it.’
He uses canvas, paper, daler rowney paper and colours. “I want my work to sustain for hundreds of years, so I use many products brought from abroad,” he adds.
Mukherjee has got the attention of art lovers and collectors from India and countries like Thailand, Norway, Germany, Spain and more.
ST Reader Service
Art for Concern Exhibition will be held on September 26 at Blue Diamond, Koregaon Park from 12 noon onwards. The curated show features over 70 works by established and budding artists from across the country including late Ram Kumar, late Rabin Mondal, T Vaikuntam, Jeram Patel, JMS Mani, DVS Krishna, Jayasri Burman, Jiten Hazarika, Asit Patnaik and many more. Proceeds from the show will go towards social development activities in the field of education, health and community development
