The United Art Fair (UAF) that was held recently in the capital gave an opportunity to the emerging artists, both young and old, especially from smaller towns to showcase their work and interact with curators and other experts cutting off the middlemen galleries.
Spread around its sprawling area, the UAF had around 2,000 works of art executed in different mediums and created by over 600 artists from all over India. Noted sculptor K.S.Radhakrishnan’s 25-feet bronze figure stood at the main venue welcoming the visitors.
Putting the aim of the fair in forefront, Annurag Sharma, director of the four-day long fest said, “The fair aimed at allowing direct interaction between artists and the public, with no galleries involved. Often people are sceptical to invest in an artist not known to them, but here, they were assured of the potential with strict procedures of selection.”
Annurag added, “It took two years of preparation to launch this project. The second edition of the fair is going to focus South-East Asia and Europe besides showcasing promising artists from India.”
UAF featured sculptures, paintings, photography, printmaking, digital art and videos. Johny ML, chief curator of the fair said, “We travelled all over India and found that the young artists needed patronage. UAF is about collapsing the monopolies developed in the art scene during the boom years. We are taking artists to the patrons directly. The fair was an interface of creativity and commerce,” he added.
With the price of artwork starting at `15,000, Sharma emphasised that the works were “within the reach” of young collectors as well. The works were priced between `15,000 to `1.5 crore and Best Work of Art award attracted a cash prize of `1.51 lakh.
While the focus was on the young and the not-so-famous artists, one of the highlights of the fair was photographs by Raja Deen Dayal. Sourced from the artist’s estate, the 45 works were authenticated by his family. There was another section dedicated to the masters, comprising works of 13 artists including Akbar Padamsee, Anjolie Ela Menon and FN Souza.
Manish Sharma, a visual artist from Bikaner, Rajasthan had visitors lining up to see his art installation, which he said is an artistic satire on the “loot of heritage in our country.”
Another artist Ujjawal Sharma, 20, a student from Jamia Millia Islamia said, “UAF proved a great medium to exhibit our works as no galleries were involved in between. There was a fair interaction with the public.”