THESE ARE THE DAYS OF HASHTAG ART
Young artists come together to promote each-other on Instagram. The group #youngartsupport (YAS) is not just trending they are also reporting a healthy sale!
These days when you open up Instagram you can be sure to be treated to a variety of good artwork in different mediums and a variety of styles, however the age group behind it is definitely defined by the millennium gang! Experienced art lovers and those working as gallerists and curators in the field for the last two decades are just happy that despite all the difficulties and desolation the young artist group have managed to heroically keep themselves afloat.
It all began when three artists formed the online art group, #youngartsupport inspired by #ArtChainIndia and #CarpeArteSupports. YAS is showcasing the works of several young artists on Instagram, and wait for it—there are also sales! Abhishek Narayan Verma, Al-Qawi Nanavati and Ekta Singha are the artists behind the trending art movement. Verma and Singha are currently residing in Vadodara and Al-Qawi lives in Mumbai. “We are a platform for Indian Art College Students and those who graduated in 2020 to sell work at affordable prices,” says their group press statement. “Students couldn’t have their Annual Degree display this year, which is usually a real boost at the beginning of their career so we wanted to help in any way we could to gain some visibility,” says a joint statement from the three artists.
“Welcome to a life in the world of art, it’s totally your own privilege how you decide to be an artist as there’s no right way to be creative. Gaining perspective by observing your practice amongst a field of others, and the culture and time in which it is done, is a career goal that follows a wide arc,” says Latitude 28 gallery director and chief editor of TAKE on ART, Bhavna Kakar, who showcased the works of the Verma, and Nanavati in the exhibition ‘When is Empathy too much?’ The exhibition that was one of the first few to risk a physical showing back in 2020 (Oct to November) brought the three artists into the limelight. The exhibition also marked the beginning of the Lado Sarai Art & Design Week, 2020.
“It’s imperative to be sensitive to the world around, especially the world we inhabit today, as this will constitute your artistic practice and inquiry in several ways,” says Kakar. “Don’t worry if the work you are making isn’t what you want it to be, be ready to fail, not many do. When you have early success, patrons and the public accept and perceive your work in a certain way, and you might end up reproducing familiar imagery,” she adds.
Poet, art curator and cultural theorist, Ranjit Hoskote points out that being creative is of core importance during this difficult time that is turbulent and disorienting, “It is vital that young practitioners starting out in the art field today, at a time of great uncertainty and precarity, should have a sense of community, a forum where they can compare notes with their contemporaries and reach out to collectors, gallerists, curators and the art world at large. #youngartsupport offers such a platform based on the values of self-organisation, mutuality and collegiality,” says Hoskote.
“So, unless you start risking and charter new territories you will be stuck in a rut. Have courage. Solitude is overrated. Patience is underrated. Ambition and greed have a thin veneer. Speak your naked truth. Give yourself away. Believe in your vision. Leap into the void. Turn the world upside down. Travel. Hang onto your so-called failures, try and save them. They hold the key to everything that came before and come after,” writes Kakar.
She entreats artists to reject the apparent ‘wisdom of the present’, for the ragged consciousness of the past. “Remain open to the voices from a previous time that question your decisions and challenge the existing context,” she adds. “Be generous. Support your peers. The pandemic has taught us that artists’ collectives are essential for survival, my heartiest congratulations to YAS for being a lifeline to several young talents. And lastly and most importantly, own your work.”
Others supporting the YAS venture are Shireen Gandhy, Director of Chemould Prescott, Purva Damani Director of 079 Stories, Mortimer Chatterjee and Tara Lal of Chatterjee and Lal, Indrapramit Roy, artist, professor and head of painting department at Maharaja SayajiRao University, Saloni Doshi, Hena Kapadia, Farah Siddiqui, Kavita Nayar, Amit Kumar Jain and artist Anju Dodiya.
The artworks themselves range from the narrative to the abstract, from that which taps into the indigenous styles to that which quotes academic realism or expressionism. For instance, Yogesh Kumar’s painting titled human Commotion, captures humans in a darkened interior, speaking to each other on gramophone-shaped horns (evoking cell phones), while animals like dogs, cats, and crows are seen prowling and strutting outside in the fields, while a dark ‘covid-shaped’ virus/cloud hangs ominously over them. Kumar is a student from BFA Final Year (ongoing) at IKSV University.
Another artist who caught one’s attention is Muskaan Mishra, who focuses on interiority and isolation, through the hyperreal imagery of a nude woman crouched in a ball on her bed with her hands covering her head and her ears. Mishra, who is from the college of art DU, has also rendered a few more paintings of empty rooms. There are several evocations of this sense of isolation and the passage of time. In the sold-out category are Anup Let, Sayandeep, Juhi Mehta, Kumar Maurya Kingar, Moushmi Kaur, Purvi Mistery, Sonali Sonam, Mayuri, Ishita Aggarwal, Tapan Roy and Kingar Sarkar to name just a few. If you are intrigued you can get to view more art at the click of a button.
Connect with them on Instagram @youngartsupport
Text by Georgina Maddox
Images Courtesy: Young Art Support.
Find more about Young Art Support and Artists:
http://www.du.ac.in/index.php?page=department-of-fine-arts
http://www.visvabharati.ac.in/KalaBhavana.html
https://www.instagram.com/letanup/
https://www.instagram.com/shivnadaruniv/
