• Art Bengaluru 2018 is taking place at the landmark UB City from 02 – 11 November 2018
• Opening Night witnessed Bengaluru’s art loving community coming together to show their solidarity for the Festival on Friday – 02 November 2018

With its inception in 2011, ‘Art Bengaluru’, the city’s first ever and only 10-day art festival brought about a new dimension to the art landscape in Bengaluru. For a city which had never really been known for art, the birth of this annual art soiree not just created a niche for Bengaluru on the national art map, but it also grew to become one of the most loved and anticipated art festivals in the city. One of its biggest highlights was the fact that it is held in The Collection, UB City – one of the most popular destinations in the heart of Bangalore. For 10 days, anyone can enter the festival for free and view spectacular works of art across a diverse spectrum of mediums and styles, displayed with museum-class display infrastructure under one roof.
 
The 2018 edition of Art Bengaluru celebrates Indian artists by bringing together 17 of the country’s best artists and over 200 artworks across 24 exhibits. With workshops, curated art walks, art installations and larger than life sized works of art all across The Collection, UB City, this is indeed a sensory treat for all Bengalureans.
 
The artworks range from photography, photo media, mixed media artworks, oil paintings, acrylics, pen and ink drawings, sculptures (from wood, steel and paper) and video projects. One of the highlights of the festival is a 30’ by 8’ oil on canvas by Saju Kunhan that, despite being created in 2011, has never been previously exhibited due to a lack of a large enough exhibition space. Inspired by Saju’s first experience of a “mega city” - Mumbai - the detail and scale of the work is mesmerising and should not be missed. The artworks range from INR 13,400 – INR 65L.
 
Moreover, by hosting it at The Collection, UB City, Art Bengaluru aims to create art awareness for the masses as the artworks have been put up throughout the mall and hence, is not targeted only at art lovers coming in specifically to see the art. It is targeted at everyone entering UB City - to inspire curiosity within them for the beautiful works around. With curated art walks, the festival also aims to contribute to art education among both children and adults. Art Bengaluru 2018 has partnered with several schools (Parikrma Centre of Learning, Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology and Dr. Beltran’s Animation School, to name a few) to take their students through curated walks to help them better understand and appreciate the arts.
 
Commenting on the event, Ms. Uzma Irfan – Conceptualizer / Organiser, Art Bengaluru & Director, Prestige Group said, “Stress has become a significant and integral part of the very existence of modern society as we know it. We are a society in the grip of epidemics of anxiety, obesity and depression. In such a scenario, we need to find alternate avenues to relieve our stress and find moments of happiness in the smaller day to day things around us. One such avenue is art appreciation. Recent studies have shown that art appreciation promotes quality of life and makes one feel good. When you look at a beautiful piece of artwork, it releases dopamine in the brain that incites feelings of pleasure while significantly bringing down stress levels. The language of art, as expressed through sounds, colours, shapes, lines, and images, speaks in ways that words cannot. Whether you experience the arts as a creator / artist or as an art lover, you can gain great pleasure and enjoyment from all kinds of art.”
 
“It therefore gives me great pleasure to present the 8^th Edition of Art Bengaluru. We welcome each and every one of you to come and enjoy the myriad offerings of the festival,” she added.
 
Mr. Abhishek Naidu – Curator, Art Bengaluru 2018 said, “Art in India still sorely lacks the awareness, appreciation and support that it receives internationally. Inconsistent governmental support and a lack of pro-art public policy, a dearth of quality galleries, museums and public art spaces, and only a handful of accessible art education institutions create a dynamic where art is largely misunderstood or ignored by the public. While the last decade has seen some positive development on this front, we are still a way away from meaningfully bringing art to the masses and creating a society that is aware of, and takes pride in, the art and artists of their country. Art Bengaluru’s aim has always been to aid in the Bangalorean front of that fight by bringing a selection of works from a diverse set of artists to UB City, thus bringing a much-needed injection of art to the city, along with a wonderfully disarming onslaught of emotion, insight, perspective and reflection that is unique to an enriching art experience.”
 
The Opening Night witnessed Bengaluru’s art lovers gathering at the beautiful UB City to interact with the artists and view the various exhibits on display. Apart from the art, the audience was left enthralled with mesmerizing performances over the course of the evening by The Flying Drummers, Madpoi, Aman Mahajan, Nush Lewis and Raman Iyer.
 
Artists at ‘Art Bengaluru 2018’
 
Ashish Dubey (Indore), Ashu Gupta (Bengaluru), Balan Nambiar (Bengaluru), Chandan Bhowmick (Kolkata), D Venkatapathy (Chennai), Devangana Kumar (New Delhi), Ganesh Selvaraj (Chennai), Gurudas Shenoy (Bengaluru), Kavita Jaiswal (Gurgaon), Pallon Daruwala (Bengaluru), Parvathi Nayar (Chennai), Rohaan Sulaiman (Bengaluru), Romicon Revola (Bengaluru), S Ravi Shankar (Chennai), Saju Kunhan (Mumbai), Vipta Kapadia (Mumbai) and Yuvan Bothysathavur (Chennai).
 
About the Artists:

• Balan Nambiar: A master with over 60 years of experience, Mr. Nambiar’s forms dance elegantly between symmetry and asymmetry, and are often inspired by childhood memories and symbols associated with the ritual arts. He will be showcasing two stainless steel sculpture exhibits apart from a body of jewellery enamelled paintings that have never been exhibited previously, as well as a selection of mild steel sculptures.
• Gurudas Shenoy: Reputed artist, Gurudas Shenoy will be showcasing his natural and urban semi-abstract canvases, with an extensive collection at Sublime Galleria on the 8^th floor as well.
• Kavita Jaiswal subsequently contemplates existentialism and perception through abstraction via mixed media works on canvas across two exhibits.
• Vipta Kapadia: Will display a collection of ephemeral abstractions in oils
• Chandan Bhowmick: Will showcase vivid terrestrial abstractions in acrylic
• D Venkatapathy: The senior most living founder member of the Cholamandal Artist Village and an important member of the Madras Art Movement will showcase large linear hillscapes in pen and ink on paper from 1986
• Yuvan Bothysathavur, S Ravi Shankar & Ganesh Selvaraj: With these 3 exhibits, symmetry replaces fluidity while paper and wood replace paint and ink. Though stylistically unique, these exhibits are tethered by strict geometrical forms employed by the artists; from the perspective-altering curves and lines of Yuvan’s work on plywood, to Ravi Shankar’s architectural laser-cut paper sculpture that transform in different angles of light, and Ganesh’s intense assemblages of magazine paper on board.
• Devangana Kumar & Rohaan Sulaiman: Their works feature photography and photo media. Devangana’s large format digital recreations of mid-nineteenth century postcards based on Indian servants under British employ strive to reinstate the identities of those commodified subjects and critique the culture of direct and indirect servitude still present in post-colonial Indian society. Rohaan’s documentation of Naga tribes and wildlife explore themes of migration, adaptation to rapidly evolving habitats and preservation of tradition.
• Parvathi Nayar, Romicon Revola, Ashu Gupta & Saju Kunhan: Parvathi’s exhibit explores water in its simultaneous ubiquity and scarcity, portrayed through the entire spectrum of perspective - from bird’s eye to microscopic. Romicon showcases two video projects and a central sculpture: the former meditates on a single drop of water and the latter engages with the phenomenon of the urban sprawl, while the sculpture attempts to address them both. Ashu, the festival’s youngest artist, attempts to reconcile her despair about Bangalore’s lost trees through a series of pen and ink drawings on canvas. The bridge features the largest work of the festival: a 30’ by 8’ oil on canvas by Saju Kunhan that, despite being created in 2011, has never been previously exhibited due to a lack of a large enough exhibition space. Inspired by Saju’s first experience of a “mega city” - Mumbai - the detail and scale of the work is mesmerising and should not be missed.
• Ashish Dubey and Pallon Daruwala: Their works feature semi-abstract photography. Ashish’s works disarmingly capture natural abstractions and, on first viewing, more closely resemble a Kandinsky than the documentation of dying wetlands that the works actually represent. One of the city’s most acclaimed photographers, Pallon’s exhibit features a selection of works from the new edition of his Vertical Horizon series, which aptly titled, capture a diverse series of subjects and settings from perspectives that are as thought provoking and disorienting as they are captivating.