The West, thanks to its understanding of commerce and being home to auction houses, has always been the ‘mecca’ of art. But the South Asian market is also growing and helping it find its voice was the first edition of Art Podium held at Singapore earlier this month.
The first edition of Art Podium saw a good turnout of art collectors, critics, art lovers, established and upcoming artists. It was also attended by officials from the corporate and banking sectors, politicians and diplomats.
Pune artist Madhuri Bhaduri who displayed her paintings — seascapes, horizon, reflections — a fibre sculpture, and hand painted jackets, at the art fair, terms the experience as “amazing”.
“The West has always been more aware of art, people there are more exposed to it. The aspect of commerce is far more in the West than it is in the East. All the auction houses have always been there in the West —in Europe and USA. However, the Asian art market is now picking up in a big way. Jakarta and Hong Kong are the emerging centres. The gap between the two is now getting bridged. The awareness is spreading,” says Bhaduri.
Talking about the art that was displayed at Art Podium, the artist says, “Different artists participated under four banners. One was the gallerist of Bengal Masters who brought the collection. The second was a curator from Mumbai who had brought contemporary Indian art. And, there was a local artist and gallery from Singapore. I had a solo exhibition at Art Podium in which I displayed about 16 larger works and nine small works. It was a good blend of different sizes and the subjects that I dealt with. I had seascapes, horizons, reflections. I was happy to show my work to a new audience.”
“Participating in such events, when many artists are showcasing your work, gets you a bigger visibility,” she adds.
Bhaduri’s series has emerged from her travels and ruminations on nature.
The artist, who works in oils, says, “When you are travelling, say to a forest or a water body, where the sights are picturesque and intense, you come back with impressions. And, they emerge through your paintings. My art works also connect with my thought process, what I see, what I think and what response I get from within. In the studio, you work with these small memories. But where it actually stems from, you cannot pin point. It also depends on how you are treating experiences with your medium of work. It is a whole gamut of experiences that include themselves in your work.”
This sense of oneness with nature also comes across in the hand painted jackets that Bhaduri displayed at Art Podium. “I painted eight jackets. Each of them has a different cue to it, but predominantly, they talk of our tribal roots. One jacket has Warli art, another piece is funky and has all African colours —pink, black, blue —reminiscent of African art. Another jacket has a very Buddhist fee l to it, while one has figurative pop art. A floral jacket was picked up by a Japanese lady,” she adds.
Next in line, are a series of paintings on moon. “There is something romantic about moon,” says Bhaduri adding, “Moon is the symbol of romance and I love to romance nature. So many beautiful things happen on a full moon. People rejoice and the whole passage of the moon emerging from the clouds is so beautiful. I have also changed my palette, I am working with pastel colours now, unlike the reds and yellows that were predominant in my art earlier.”
