Concern over growing disinterest in art

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 5

Acclaimed artist KK Gandhi from Jammu and Kashmir has expressed concern over growing distance between art and the common man.

Gandhi, who was in Dehradun to participate in the National Painters’ Camp being organised by the Kerala Lalithakala Academy in Dehradun talked to The Tribune on Friday. “The growing distance between art and the common man is a matter of concern and this has been solely due to the art becoming experimental nowadays,” Gandhi said.

“ Artists of today have started aping the west that believes more in experimental art. But on contrary it is more important that the art gives us a region’s fragrance and identity,” said KK Gandhi who has so far held a total of 18 solo art exhibitions in India and abroad. Gandhi at the camp in Dehradun has prepared two of his art works with themes of meadows and rich biodiversity, which are akin to Uttarakhand. The two paintings have been a source of big attraction for visitors at the camp.

He participated in 50 camps both at national and international levels. His paintings even adorn the walls of Governor house at Jammu and Kashmir, the state to which he belongs apart from Himachal Pradesh. His painting was appreciated by BJP president Amit Shah when he visited Jammu recently. Even Union Minister Arun Jaitley and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have appreciated his works.

He has been to Bharain, London, Finland, Belgium, Franch and very recently to Sweden.