If you wanted to check out the Bespoke Art Gallery earlier, you had to phone in and make an appointment. Once you arrived, one of the employees would unlock the door and hover around as you looked at the art. The idea seemed to be to keep out the hoi polloi and restrict the number of visitors. Possibly to those who might be buyers. Whatever the reason, the whole process was pretentious and joyless. Which is a pity since the gallery has excellent works in its collection.
Come December, founder director Devin Gawarvala, whose family is in the tyre business, has finally seen the light. Bespoke has opened its door to the public in an exhibition titled Whittled Worlds. From 11 am to 7 pm, anyone can walk in and see the paintings and sculpture on display. These include works by artists from Uzbekistan, Finland, Belgium, Spain and the UK, as well as several by some very talented Indian artists. All very different from what one usually sees in Ahmedabad’s galleries.
The most charming work in the collection is by British and Australian artists Gillie and Marc. Hailed as the most prolific creators of public art in New York, their work carries a message of equality and love that is hard to miss. Their paintings and sculptures feature Rabbitwoman and Dogman, two lovable characters that are portrayed kissing, sitting atop a stork, riding a Vespa, on a merry-go-round. Then there are their friends: rhinos, elephants, antelopes, giraffes, gorillas, all in different colours.
The canvases on display at Bespoke are large and striking, including some multi-hued works by Uzbek painters Bobur Ismailov and Timur D’Vatz. Then there is the Belarusian painter Walera Martynchyk, who has created a remarkable portrait of John Lennon and a series of abstracts titled Maharaja. Finnish painter Christian Saldert’s paintings feature humans in conjunction with animals, such as The Law of the Shepherd, where a boy is depicted sitting with a pink flamingo.
More than the paintings however, it is the sculpture that captures attention. Bespoke is spacious and it has outdoor as well as indoor spaces for display. The best work here is by Indian artist Debashish Bera, who uses wood, bronze and stone. His large wood sculpture Antornihito and bronze work Celestial are complex and imposing. The catalogue that Bespoke has produced for Whittled Worlds tells us that Debashish was born into a family of sculptors in West Bengal and has earned a Masters in Sculpture from Baroda.
Bespoke Art Gallery is located at the end of Sindhu Bhavan Road, in a lane opposite the Taj. The exhibition is on till 20 January and is worth a dekho.
Also Read: Historic Garland Worn by Mahatma Gandhi at Dandi March Goes on Auction in UK
