Photo report on the Savera art show

This is a photo report on the charity art show organized by the Savera Foundation at the Hotel Intercontinental, Delhi in November and curated by Mr. Naresh Kupuria.One of my works was on display.

Only a few seconds after entering the exhibition, a tiresome sense of utter déja-vu takes over.
There are the mandatory firengees(foreigners):




the ubiquitous gold-laden, over-madeup dames from the millionaires' wive's club:







the bearded, long-haired artee-sharties and kurta-wallahs ruminating over a few pegs:




some devtas* of the art world:




OK, Who else? Vinod Khanna was there(captured here in front of something, hard to say what, made by Naresh Kupuria):




an alien presence among the ladies? :




As for the art works, there were the always-there and almost always badly painted clowns(what's with the clowns anyway? Why are they so trendy?):




no escaping concentric circles and bindus*:







then, one of the favorite themes of our times -jumbled up body parts(here by that mahaan cheez* FN Souza):




in fact, whole bodies split up:



and put back together(as if by a surgeon who has learnt only how to cut and chop but not sew back into a rational whole). A kalyug* version of some god? :




the peace and serenity brigade, with lotuses blooming perhaps at the wrong places:




Lord Buddha doesn't seem to mind those lovingly emptied glasses of whiskey:




a gentleman(a sardarjee*?) in a mysterious pose in front of a mysterious light or presence:




this work is trying to say something deep -I am too shallow to figure it out:




gimmicky 'sculptures':




Something interesting, for a change. A hint of better things to come from this artist, I hope:




this is good, technically sound:




Sanjay Bhattacharya, one India's best artists, sadly disappoints by sending an amateurish work. Sanjay, how could you? :




Patterns, designs:




and more of the same, only worse:




Amidst all this, my painting appears forlorn and lonely:




Finally, something one can rest one's eyes on with joy for a long, long time -a lovely woman:




Seen it all, felt it all -another fatiguing visit to an art show.It has done nothing to raise my low opinion of contemporary art.But then, I didn't expect it to.To have expectations is to be disappointed again and again.I have stopped being disappointed because I expect nothing of the preening mediocrities that the art scene is overflowing with.

Reporting for What the Heck is Art? this is yours truly.

Note - my work displayed (The Tourist, watercolor and acrylics) at this exhibition can be seen here.


*The colorful Indian language translator-
devtas -Hindu male gods
bindus -circles
mahaan cheez -Great Person, (used sarcastically)
kalyug-"Age of Kali", "age of vice"
sardarjee- a Sikh

Bump- oops, it's Savera Association, not Savera Foundation.

Very, very important announcement- There was an extremely sweet lady at the exhibition who kept smiling and looking at me with deep eyes. If she is reading this, will she get in touch with this lost and lonely soul? Nothing no bar.