Triveni Kala Sangam’s 'Art in Edition' Exhibition: Masters’ lesson

New Delhi recently saw incessant rains and blue skies and the season’s cleanest air quality. But this was not the only attraction for its citizens. Triveni Kala Sangam witnessed the last day of the ‘Art in Editions’ exhibition nestled amongst its other awe-inspiring displays.

The exhibition was organised by the Dhoomimal Gallery, India’s oldest, established in 1936. The gallery once showcased rare works of masters such as Zarina Hashmi, Manjit Bawa, and Jagmohan Chopra, among others.

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When this author visited it, the Shridharani Gallery was silent yet buzzing with culture, spearheaded by the quiet yet astute Nixit Kothari, manager of sales at Dhoomimal Gallery. He shed light on why the exhibition was important, as well as the future of art as we know it.

Can you tell us about the main artists showcased in this exhibition?

“All of them are very senior and important ones if I tell you. Somnath Hore is a very senior artist who is no more. We have displayed 7-8 works of his, which is more of a linocut. These are all edition prints; all the paintings are all editioned. They are either artist proofs, and that is why we have kept the title ‘Art in Edition’.”

What exactly is "edition?"

“An artist does any print of any of his creative work; he does multiple prints. Sometimes 10, 20, 30. A lot of them here are editions. When I say editions, you can say that it is written 2/8 or 2/25. That means total works are the number, and this is the second edition.”

Why does an artist do multiple editions?

“They do multiple prints depending on their ideas. Sometimes they do 10, 20, 30. But they sign each print. So after printing, all the artists write the edition numbers and their signatures. They do a signature on it. So it is equivalent to their piece of art. A lot of other artists paint on a brush or on the canvas. Then they sign. This is how they paint. This is how their art is. They create the art on a sheet, on other materials, and then imprint it on paper.”

Can you walk us through the exhibition?

“One of Somnath Hore’s is not a print. It is pulp. Somnath has done a ‘wound’ series. This is a paper where he is trying to portray wounds on a paper pulp print. Different types of wounds are showcased.”

“Another artist I would like to mention is Haren Das. He is a very senior artist. Here he has done a woodcut. All these designs are done on a wooden plank, and with colour, they print it. So wherever you see white is not touched. Wherever they have done the etching or something. Then they put the ink.”

“Krishna Reddy is a very good printmaker, but he is no more. Not many galleries carry his work because he has not done too much work in his life. A lot of his works are owned by collectors, and people generally don’t sell them. So it doesn’t come up very easily. Of course, some collectors sell, and few galleries are collecting. Next year, we have Krishna Reddy’s centenary. We thought it was a time to showcase some of his work, which people don’t see much.”

“Another artist we have is Jagmohan Chopra. His work style was very different, as it was on a zinc plate and then printed with different colours.”

“You will not see much of his work on the market. A lot of people don’t even know him.”

“One of his paintings is titled ‘Composition 34’. This is the twenty-third out of a total of twenty-five, and this is signed by him and Rameshwar Broota. He is one of the senior artists who stays here only and teaches here. He has come and seen the work, and he liked it. It is very rare for a work to be signed by two artists.”

What is the ‘four is a four-letter word’ piece?

“If you see all the numbers, four is the only one that is equivalent to its numbers. Four is a four-letter word. What are the different four-letter words that we use in daily life to print images? Every square of this is differently designed and colour-wise printed on paper.”

Who is Zarina Hashmi?

“Zarina Hashmi is very famous for woodwork. These are all woodcuts. She takes out the subject from daily life and then tries to put those designs into the wood.”

“This is ‘rope’, and if you zoom the rope, this is the texture that you get from the rope, threads, and all. If you turn the rope like this, some of them will be one way, another way. Similarly, you have done the cage. She has tried to put a wooden cage.”

“It is a kind of etching on a zinc plate and trying to portray a bond envelope where or probably the bond between the thread and how it will look.”

How has the response been to the gallery?

“We are getting a good response. A lot of artists are coming. We have very good walk-ins here. People appreciate the work, especially people who are from the art community; some of the art connoisseurs find it impressive because some of these are Manjit Bawa’s very old etchings; in his earlier times he used to sign Manjit Singh Bawa; later it became Manjit Bawa, but earlier he used to sign Manjit Singh Bawa.”

How do you think art can reach younger people and people who might not be typically interested in it?

“These days, art has everything. Earlier art used to be on serious subjects. Now art has a very contemporary side to it. It has a very creative and colourful side that young people can relate to. Earlier, it used to be a very niche category of people who used to understand the meaning of art. I think the only way is to create a lot of contemporary designs with real-life meanings.”

“We have noticed that young collectors are now present.”

Do they have the pockets?

“They do have the pockets, for sure. Thanks to their earning capacity, which has gone up, and also because they need fast money. Earlier art used to be considered as only art to buy and keep. Now it is not only an asset; people are considering it as an investment.”

“People are buying it, and in case they are senior artists or masters, the price goes up fast. There are different platforms where art is available for auction through galleries. The overall art industry in terms of the artists and platforms where this is displayed, all of them have gone up. That’s why the access has gone up for a lot of people.”

“Young artists will take time, but the old ones and masters, their prices have also become very dynamic, so this is also an investment. So all these things are bringing young people to the art industry.”

Triveni Kala Sangam is open every day from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Dhoomimal Gallery is open Monday to Saturday, 11:00 am to 7:00 pm.