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The sale of the visual arts in West Bengal has reached in a fascinating upright growth. The art-loving moneyed men are investing their funds in buying painting or sculpture, besides real estates. Even at present the middle class people with limited resources are also purchasing art works to shape their residence an elegant look. Today's trends shows art market of West Bengal is moving forward.
In these circumstances a number of art galleries have emerged during the last few years amidst the rich cultural milieu of Kolkata. Amongst them Aakriti Art Gallery is one of the prominent ones, which has been set up with new values and sensitivities. It has already drawn the attention of art connoisseurs within its short yet productive existence with its unique and crisp presentations. In this concise voyage Aakriti Art Gallery has also come up with a new gallery in the same premises exclusively for sculpture show. Both the display areas are well equipped with modern scientific lighting arrangements, the look of which is subtle and simple, yet visually pleasing.
According to Aakriti Art Gallery's calendar of events for 2007, 12 art shows were scheduled for exhibition, out of which eight are already held which included solo and joint exhibition on various themes. Among one-man shows, the birth centenary exhibition of Gobardhan Ash (1907-1996) was remarkable. Almost a retrospective, the show unveiled a multifarious facet of the artist's creativity. Another notable show was of Gopal Prasad Mondal (b.1949) which revealed his inventive search on micro to macro organic sculptures. Joint shows like 'Modernity and its various trends', 'Freedom what it means to me' curated by Mrinal Ghosh and Pranabranjan Ray respectively, and 'On their own' deserve special mention for their excellent presentations. I too was given privileged by Mr. Vikram Bachhawat to curate two exhibitions titled 'Landscape in modern paintings' and 'Glimpses of modern sculptures of Bengal'. All the above discussed exhibitions were a showcase of new creative ideas and profound visual language.
It is often heard that most of the galleries give much emphasis on displaying the works of senior artists who have more value in the art market and opportunities to the juniors are restricted. However, at Aakriti this is not so. Every year they organise an exhibition exclusively for talented young artists under the name 'GenNext' which has now become a splendid platform to take their art to the next level.
Besides display and sale of artifacts, Aakriti is now venturing into new avenues to take art to the world. Within a short period of time it will open up a new window in the domain of art sales. The Emami Group and Chisel Craft - the parent body of Aakriti Art Gallery are collaborating to establish an auction house live and online auction. This enterprise is scheduled to began in December' 2007 in their 14000 sq.ft center located at E M Bypass. This center, the first of its kind in India, will also have exhibition galleries, conference room, library, archive, storage etc. There are also plans to publish journals on based on art and commerce of Indian art. So, with all these achievements it Aakriti Art Gallery is glowing with its own luminosity.
-- Prasanta Daw
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