Behind the scenes

A mood board by Varunika Saraf

Ceci n'est pas une pipe." When Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte painted the sentence that literally translates to "This is not a pipe" below an image of a pipe, he forced the viewer to see more than what meets the eye. That, in a way, is also the agenda of Modus Operandi-2: in situ: an artist studio, an upcoming exhibition at Chemould Prescott Road.

The first edition of the exhibition was targeted at young collectors and that remains the same this year, too, with over 20 artists including Anju Dodiya, Jitish Kallat, Desmond Lazaro and Dhruvi Acharya. However, stepping into the gallery this time will also allow the viewer a glimpse of the artist's process with mood boards, worktables and working studies. "When I had Lavanya Mani's exhibition in February - her work is so process heavy - it got me thinking about the July show and what brings artists together," says gallerist Shireen Gandhy. Although the last edition emerged like a process-driven exhibition, it didn't begin with that notion. "It began with the fact that artists would give works that were prized under a certain value. As artists starting sending in work, we'd also get artists like Desmond saying, 'Oh, I have a process drawing that could work,' and that gave the exhibition direction. The apple came after the cart," she adds.

Shireen Gandhy

Gandhy also highlights how so many of the artists at the gallery are into painting with pigment and taking the idea of process further, two workshops - a print one by Tanujaa Rane and another on Kalamkari by Mani - will also be held. She asserts how despite the price points - which are capped at approximately Rs 3.5 lakh - the intrinsic value of the work remains. Gandhy concludes, "We aren't making it cheap by making it small. These works speak to everyone... and it's like a peep hole where you're looking back and see behind-the-scenes of how artwork is made."

Reena Saini Kallat's Siamese Trees

ON July 18 to August 17, 11 am
AT Chemould Prescott Road, G Talwatkar Marg, Fort.
CALL 22000211
FREE

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates