27 February,2018 11:08 AM IST | Mumbai | Trina Chaudhuri
Jitish Kallat's studio interiors
Car windows and computer screens can never replace the views that our feet can take us to. It does involve more time but it also gives us the privilege of an unadulterated experience, something we can call our own. So what if a detour during a casual stroll this weekend takes us into an art gallery?
Jitish Kallat
"The studio is usually a space of solitude. One rarely has visitors," confesses artist Jitish Kallat, a few days before Piramal Museum of Arts organises an art walk that is open to enthusiasts. "The museum is at a walking distance from my studio. Participants will gather in the Byculla gallery where some of my work from the museum's collection is on display. They will proceed from there to my studio for an interactive session. I like the fact that the visit can happen on foot," he adds.
One of four-part Lenticular photopiece by Kallat
Kallat has exhibited widely at museums and institutions around the world, including Tate Modern in London, Martin Gorpius Bau in Berlin, Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane and Palais de Beaux-Arts in Brussels among many others. His work includes paintings, art installations, phÂotÂoÂgraphy and video art. The city of Mumbai and its evolution into a sprawling metropolis is one of his chief influences that reflects in his art.
Rain Study, one of Kallat's work on display at the gallery
Besides completed works by the 43-year-old artist, pieces that are currently in progress will be on display for all. "We may discuss some of my early work, and with the help of slides, take the visitors to an exhibition that was organised by the National Gallery of Modern Art last year," he says.
Participants, Kallat believes, can engage in an informal and unimpeded dialogue around art. "I feel this conversation need not be restricted to my work alone. It should provide opportunities to explore questions and thoughts around art that may have preoccupied someone for a while. It also gives us a chance to consider that collectively," he says of the interactive session that will be led by Ashwin Rajagopalan, director of the museum.
As an artist, Kallat thinks this session will give him the opportunity to mingle and interact with a variety of audience, including teachers, students, or just another art lover. "That's what is really interesting to me," he says. Kallat will have his next solo exhibition open at the Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York, in late April, and a large permanent artwork in Shenzhen, China, around the same time.
On March 3, 3.45 pm onwards
AT Piramal Museum of Art - Byculla Gallery, Aranya Pavilion, Byculla East.
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