Sampath

Bengaluru

process

By Prerna MalhotraArt is for the elite.” “Commoners can’t make the head nor tail of a painting.” These are just a few myths that Kaavyaand Pooja Shirali of Mirrah, a Bengaluru-based art company, would like to bust once and forever. And so the artist-duo is bringing Art Battle – a live painting competition – to India for the first time, kicking it off fromthis weekend. What that means is, artists will create a painting from scratch in front of a live audience. And audience members, that’s you, will rate their works over three rounds of 20 minutes each and declare a winner. And that winner will get to compete in the national championship and later at the global championship of Art Battle in Tokyo in October 2020.For the uninitiated, Art Battle started in 2001 in New York and has since travelled to over 60 cities across the world and has seen the participation of over 6,000 artists. “I first heard about this tournament from a friend, who stays in the US.She had participated in the Seattle chapter of Art Battle. Since we didn’t have an art event like this in India, I thought I must bring it down,” shares Sampath, who is a painter, while Shirali makes pencil and charcoal sketches.“There’s a close-knit community that gets together for music and dance festivals. We even have hip hop and rap battles in India but nothing concerning art,” says Sampath, about why she decided to have this art battle.Much to their joy, the duo received an overwhelming response. “We got 70 to 80 applications from artists across the country but our mandate was to select artists from Bengaluru only. So we shortlisted 12 of them, making sure they were a mix of established and upcoming artists who practised different styles of art,” Sampath explains. For instance, Anusha Sudhakaran makes abstract work and Madhubala Bosale takes inspiration from daily life.Ask Sampath why artists are enthused about this competition and she says, “It gives them a chance to interact and perform in front of like-minded people who appreciate art in some way. It gives them the opportunity to take the audience through theof painting which is often underestimated. It is also a platform to display, connect and sell their art and really, make anything they want.” And likewise, it gives the audience “a space where you’re not only seeing the artists in action but also encouraging and appreciating the art culture. We want to break the myth that art is for the elite only,” says Sampath.But is it fair for lay people to judge an artist’s work, given that they don’t have the academic knowledge and appreciation for arts as seasoned critics do? Sampath agrees that not everyone understands all styles of art but goes on to add, “Watching the painting from start to end gives the audience more insights into the approach, techniques, process, and pace of an artist. And I must mention that the winners will be chosen not only by the audience but also by the international team of Art Battle, who understands and appreciates the finer nuances of art.” However, Art Battle is not as serious as it sounds. “Besides live painting, you can shake a leg to groovy DJ music and enjoy continental food,” Sampath signs off.