Art jumps off the high horse

This week, Paresh Maity in three square inches of a wine label is yours for Rs 440; his painting costs no less than Rs 3 lakh. A Bose Krishnamachari clutch goes up for sale for a couple of thousands, unlike his paintings that carry a 35 lakh price tag. Top artists are blending form, sculpture and fine art in the utilitarian world of affordable functional art, finds Kasmin Fernandes

In the real world, a painting by Paresh Maity will set you back by no less than three lakh rupees. In the world of functional art, his artwork is yours for Rs 440. As a 20th anniversary celebration, winemakers Grover Vineyards are slapping three square inches of fine art by Maity -- and four other biggies -- on the labels of a series of wine bottles that are part of the Art Collection. Maity depicts the complexity of Viognier with a face that shows a range of emotions. You'll find a Rekha Rodwittya on Shiraz Rose, a Jatin Das on Blanc de Blanc, a Sanjay Bhattacharya on Cabernet Shiraz, and a Rini Dhumal on Sauvignon Blanc -- all available between Rs 420 and Rs 560.


This bottle of Grover Vineyards Shirazu00a0 from the Art Collection has a label
created by artist Paresh Maity. Pic/Satyajit Desai

Says Kapil Grover, Director, Grover Vineyards, "These wine labels are works of art, conveying the vision, story and character of the winery in three square inches." The idea came from Mouton Rothschild Bordeaux which has commissioned the likes of Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau and Andy Warhol to create an original work to illustrate the label, every year since 1946. Every artist is at liberty, following his own inspiration, to interpret the themes of the wine, and the pleasure of drinking.

Can you sit on a pen nib?
Next week, three-month-old Mumbai art hotel Le Sutra will host an exhibition where 29 artists and designers will present their seats of art -- chairs made of wood, fiber glass, steel, aluminum and gold foil. Anand Prabhudesai's Fountain Pen Nib chair uses the concept of free-flowing ink, which is drawn through a feed to the nib and then to the paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action. "Unlike the typical fountain pen which requires little or no pressure to write, free flow of thought for creativity is of utmost importance to human transcendence," is the artist's spiel.

Utility in art is not new, but the sense of utility in fine art was obscured by fine art's appeal to aesthetic beauty outside of physical utility. The peacock's magnificent plumage is an aesthetic statement of the bird's beauty and of nature's mysteries. However, the plumage would be useless if it didn't have a utility vital to the continuance of the species.

"There has to be a thematic connect between design, its artistic inspiration and functional use," says Delhi-based artist, filmmaker and revivalist Muzaffar Ali who has delved into this realm with a series of tables, each design only one of its kind. "It all depends on how the artist applies himself to the object. In India, design itself has to evolve, and we need good craftsmen to execute it since utilitarian art is the coming together of craftsmanship and art."

Bose Krishnamachari for a steal
ICIA (Institute of Contemporary Art) in Mumbai has launched a personalised line of clutches, bags and shawls put together by artist Bose Krishnamachari. Considering the contemporary artist's works sell for Rs 35 lakh and above in the primary market, the merchandise available for between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, is a steal. Says Tushar Sethi, director, ICIA, "Collaborations with big labels help widen an artist's scope."


Krishnamachari's clutch

"British artist Damien Hirst teamed up with denim brand Levi's to design a limited edition collection of T-shirts and jeans. Versace created a dress based on Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe portraits. The labels understood the popular elements in the artists' works. This synergy is important," says Bose, who is in Dubai for an exhibition where he uses furniture as art.

"Functional art has been around in Europe and the US; India is at a nascent stage though," says Sethi. Agrees art collectors' favourite Ganga Kadakia, who is a fan of Sethi's father Vikram Sethi's functional art collection.

"Not even one per cent of the functional art market has been tapped," says the Mumbai-Paris based artist. She recently opened a functional art store in Andheri's Laxmi Industrial Estate. Peacock Life (peacocklife.com) is her collaboration with landscapist Neelam Sagar and interior and product designer Shabnam Gupta.


Pratap More with his chair titled Globetrotter, Ajit Shevade with Trade of
Identity, Rajendra Chaudhari with Ambition Fulfilled, and Anand Prabhudesai
Fountain Nib Chair. All on display next week at Le Sutra art hotel, Khar.
Pic/ Apoorva Guptay

This lamp designed by Kadakia carries a picture she clicked during a South
African safari. Pics/ Apoorva Guptay


Ganga kadakia at her Andheri functional art store

"Functional art is one of the movements we promote. Artists who wish to walk out of the tracks and experiment beyond the canvas," says Kadakia, who has designed lamps that carry shots from her South African safari, and mailboxes which have handpainted lotuses. The store has textured plates by Savia Mahajan, treated tile art for the kitchen or bath areas by artist Vipul Salvi, wall hangings by photographer Kushwant Matharu and installations by Puneesh Gupta, besides reprints of various artists' works -- sketches, drawings, charcoal paintings, photographs and digital art -- in various sizes. The designs and pieces don't cost the earth, either.
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"The purpose of functional art is that it's affordable," says Kadakia from her suburban home, which has a Picasso print table she picked up while traveling. "Functional art is currently the most happening phenomenon, because of its collaborative possibilities."

We have Germany before WWII to thank
The concept of utility-in-art goes back to the Bauhaus artists of Pre-World War II Germany who saw no reason why goods for use should not be aesthetically good as well. They were the forerunners of the concept of designer products and what we call lifestyle today.

Delhi-based sculptor Atul Sinha ventures beyond, by blending aesthetics and use in such a way that art doesn't become design. His sculptures can be used as tables, chairs, racks and lamps, yet they remain sculptures. Says the artist, "When I start working on a sculpture, I only attempt to collate my travels and artistic capabilities into three-dimensional figures. But on the same hand, I don't object when my buyers decide to make use of it.

My studio is not a factory, which makes multiple copies of one entity. Each work has an identity of its own and is just like any other piece of art."

Trend forecast

One-of-a-kind furniture pieces will attract attention says Tushar Sethi, Director of ICIA
One-of-a-kind furniture pieces rather than mass-produced models, will be big five years down the line. Watch out for the likes of young Delhi-based furniture designer Gunjan Gupta who has won various international awards for her work.



The future will be superflat-ened out
Superflat is a movement proposed by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami whose paintings deal with two dimensional spatiality rendered somewhere between traditional Japanese painting and modern anime. The phrase, though coined by Murakami for his art, has recently drawn attention from young scholars due to its connotations -- devoid of perspective and devoid of hierarchy, all existing equally and simultaneously.
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The term is used by Murakami to refer to various flattened forms in Japanese graphic art, animation, pop culture and fine arts, as well as the "shallow emptiness of Japanese consumer culture".

In addition to Murakami, artists whose work is considered Superflat include Chiho Aoshima, Mahomi Kunikata, Sayuri Michima, Yoshitomo Nara, Tatsuyuki Tanaka and Aya Takano. Animators within anime and some mangaka considered Superflat are Koji Morimoto, and the work of Hitoshi Tomizawa, author of Alien 9 and Milk Closet.

When Indian watch giant commissioned dials to SH Raza
Watch giant Titan launched its first line of wall clocks with art giant Sayed Haider Raza's paintings as dials circa 2001.


SH Raza with a painting from his Bindu series at the Power of Peace exhibition
which commemorated the seventh anniversary of Tao art gallery in Worli

"Titan found that his painting style would lend itself very well to time," said then vice president, sales and marketing, Bijou Kurien.

Three paintings from Raza's Bindu series were translated into dials and 500 pieces of each were displayed at a launch exhibition in Mumbai. Bindu, according to Raza, is the black point, the genesis of creation. The paintings chosen were Shanti (signifying peace in concentric circles), Panch Bhoot (the five elements as in five primary colours) and Kaal (signifying time in a black background with golden semicircular rings). Each piece in the limited edition of 500, priced between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,500, was numbered.

The handbook

How to know your functional superartists

1) Takashi Murakami
His work ranges from cartoony paintings to quasi-minimalist sculptures to giant inflatable balloons to performance events to factory-produced watches, T-shirts, and other products, many emblazoned with his signature character, Mr DOB. His empire includes studios in Japan and America employing around 100 people; a biannual art fair, Geisai, in Tokyo which promotes the work of cutting-edge Japanese artists, and his global merchandising business, KaiKai Kiki, selling everything from videos, T-shirts and mouse pads to mobile-phone pouches.

2) Damien Hirst
The British artist teamed up with luxury brand Louis Vuitton to create two twin trunks for surgical instruments. Hirst was inspired by David Cronenberg film Dead Ringers in which a display of beautiful stainless steel surgical instruments caught his eye. The twin trunks are made in black Nomade leather with a deep blue microfibre lining. The leather has been printed with a variety of butterflies placed by Damien Hirst himself. Two silver skulls encrusted on the inside of each lid, add a creepy touch.


3) Jeff Koons
In 1988, one of his giant porcelain sculptures, Michael Jackson and Bubbles, sold for $5.6m. Two years ago, a giant inflatable piece, a magenta-coloured Hanging Heart, fetched nearly $34m. This April 6, Koons revealed his design for his BMW art car. The company has been commissioning artists to adorn vehicles since 1975. The project started when Herv ufffd Poulain, an auctioneer and race car driver asked his friend, Alexander Calder, to paint the BMW 3.0 CSL that he planned to drive at 24 Hours of Le Mans.


The concept
Functional art is art created for a utilitarian purpose. For example, African art may have a social or healing purpose, whereas a historical painting acts as a record of an event or era in history. However, the term is mainly and traditionally used with reference to art that serves a practical purpose, such as furniture, pottery, metalwork, and textiles, along with crafts such as jewellery and stained glass. Arts such sculpture, painting, and printmaking are considered non-functional.

The backstory
It was not until the 18th century that Western art historians began to differentiate between art that was 'pure' or 'fine' (completely aesthetic), and art that served a practical purpose. In the West, the boundary between functional and non-functional art has increasingly blurred since the 18th century; works prized for their utilitarian function, such as a stained-glass window, are also admired for their inherent beauty.