An experience of visual art

For Koeli Mukherjee, art is not all about the big jargons of formal education and training. It’s all about getting absorbed into the visual medium and enjoying every moment of it in a disciplined manner. This has resulted in a long session of visual workstation of live painting at Ailamma art gallery in Hyderabad for the past week with many art lovers and artists getting an opportunity to have hands on experience to see an artist at work.

For Koeli, art is all about the intensity of practice. It can be fun at times, but when the path is added with a thought process to establish a kind of work schedule never tread by anyone, brings in the mystic element. Koeli said, “This series is all about hands, feet, nature and animals around us.

We constantly use our hands and feet for various purposes in the surrounding of nature and maybe the presence of animals who would be also wondering the movements. There are many ‘eyes’ in each painting which are basically ‘windows to the world’.

When I am continuously creating work in this manner, there will definitely be a very rewarding soul searching aspect coming into my mind which was not there before. This quest of an artist should always continue and I would welcome many more artists to join us on this experience at this very gallery.

This particular ‘live studio’ concept is to provide a visual art experience. Conceptual art is very different from visual art and does not need such an exposure.”

Advising young and old artists she asked them to, ‘To chill’ and enjoy the company of each other. “Work will automatically happen. After all, there was a time when one artist used to make the work and the other artist would literally carry the same and display it,” she further said.

Koeli also thinks that galleries are recent phenomena and artists have to first enjoy each other’s presence and learn to respect and appreciate art. “There is nothing as trained or untrained artist. If one observes carefully, every artist would have definitely created at least seven works in his or her lifetime that can be easily appreciated,” she added.

By: Jaywant Naidu