Drawing beyond the line

Here’s how 16 artists went beyond the boundaries of a simple drawing and created interesting installations and even ‘moving art’

What can one do with a drawing, besides just creating in on a paper and framing it? When artist and curator Avani Rao Gandra was faced with this question, she knew that a drawing had much more potential and that’s how her show — Drawing Experience — was born. In this show, 16 artists take the ‘line’ out of the paper and the canvas, and explore several realms of art.

Well, that wasn’t the only reason why Avani came up with the show. “I noticed that the students, create interesting work, but not many know of it, so I wanted them to get a platform and this seemed like a good place to start,” says Avani, while adding that the other reason was to get innovative with art shows. “I also wanted artists to use the ‘linear essence’ of a drawing and create something bigger,” she says. The idea that was conceptualised within a month has 16 works on display.

One walk through the exhibition and it will become obvious that the works are simply unique. Take for instance the work of artist Sayoni Laha. Titled Ugliness of Beauty, the art work is that of a plait where black garbage bags are used as the hair. The artist says, “This is a take on ‘sex’ and how the society views it as something dirty, but at the same time when it comes to having offspring, it is looked upon as something good and necessary. I wanted to show that hypocrisy through my work.” But, probably one of the most interesting works on display, was one that wasn’t mounted. It was something that was actually breathing and moving. Titled Moving Drawing, artist Pavan Kumar painted on a student from the city. “Since the brief was ‘unconventional drawings’ I chose a human as my canvas. Us

humans live closed lifestyles and cubes are closed figures that I used to depict it,” says Pavan who took around six hours to paint.

Among the works on display is also Avani’s 20-foot long installation titled Shed the Golden Skin.

Explains Avani, “This work is a metaphorical take on man’s never-ending quest, and how we glide through the test of time, shedding the layers of memory and history as a golden skin.”

This show is the first in the series of exhibitions that Avani is coming up with. Says Avani. “Our next exhibition is Family

Albums and it deals with personal identity, displacement and memories among others.”