Beyond the canvas: Hotels, restaurants, hospitals are the new easel for Bengaluru artists

BENGALURU: It costs between Rs 500 and Rs 750 a day to put up an art exhibit at the Venkatappa Art Gallery, Bengaluru. The fee excludes sales commission and other costs. Moreover, famous art galleries are usually booked months in advance. While these hurdles mean a surge in online art sales, artists in Bengaluru have found newer avenues to display their works — hospitals, luxury hotels and restaurants.

Swasti Art Gallery, an art space at HCG Cancer Hospital on P Kalinga Rao Road, gets thousands of curious visitors. The gallery was launched by artist Bhagya Ajaikumar to promote art and to raise funds for the HCG Foundation to help support cancer patients. She also organises art workshops for paediatric cancer patients. Artist JMS Mani says he can see the therapeutic effect art has on patients and their kin. “The hospital is doing this for a good cause. Such spaces give both the artist and the art buyer a reason to invest time and money.” The gallery is now hosting an exhibit titled ‘Spiritual Abstractions’.

“We do four to five art shows through the year with prominent artists. Having an art space makes for a good atmosphere for the patients and visitors,” says Feros Khan, manager, HCG Foundation. The opening day of all the exhibits takes place at the Vivanta by Taj property in the city. “The hotel gives the space free of charge for a day-long event, after which the showcase moves to the hospital,” Khan says.

It’s not just hospitals. Art @ L1, a space dedicated to artworks at JW Marriot, hosts exhibitions for viewing and auctioning. The hotel has tied up with Hyderabad-based Asian Art House. Every two months, the art house sets up a new collection at the hotel. From the works of Gourishankar Soni, Sastry Sanyasayya, Samir Sarkar, Manoj Das and Kanthraj N, to beautiful pieces by Vietnamese artists, the gallery has hosted it all. “It is an avenue for greater visibility for artists and gives our guests something beautiful to look at and appreciate,” Gaurav Sinha, director - operations, at JW Marriot Bengaluru, says. A painting by a Vietnamese artist sold for about Rs 3 lakh recently, he says. Currently, a showcase of a series of paintings ‘Versatile Vignettes’ by seven artists from Bengaluru is on display here.

Churchstreet Social underwent an artsy transformation last year, with hanging dervishes, art installations and abstract paintings adorning the walls.

Art Café, a space for art at Sheraton Grand, Rajajinagar, is also pairing food that goes with the art on display. It also hosts art appreciation and art residency programmes.“How to make art more accessible? By taking it to the people,” Varun, curator of Art Café, says. Given that only a discerning crowd continues to visit galleries, such spaces are democratising art. It’s also tough for emerging artists to get into renowned galleries, says artist Bhaskar Rao.

Rajat Mittra, co-founder of Asian Art House, says collaboration with hotels is a great way for struggling or new artists to grab eyeballs. “The art buyer has also changed. Earlier, it was limited to a pool of people with high disposable income. But, we now find young corporate couples setting up homes looking for original artwork,” Mittra adds. “Hotels have beautiful, large spaces that give artwork its due, and sets a quality benchmarks too.”