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From
Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 31, Dated 04 Aug 2012 |
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| CULTURE & SOCIETY |
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PSYCHOLOGIES |
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‘Artists are not a breath of fresh air, but a storm’
WHO V Sanjay Kumar was born in Karaikudi and grew up in Chennai. A businessman by training, he spent many years setting up small businesses in Mumbai. His debut novel Artist, Undone was released this year. He is currently the director of Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai.
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V Sanjay Kumar, 52, Writer |
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What drew you into the art world?
Some colleagues gave me an MF Husain on my wedding. I took it to a gallery to find out its value. That was the first time I had set foot in a gallery. It was Jogen Chowdhury’s show. I ended up paying a large sum of money for my first painting. I was fascinated by the commerce. How do prices come about? Why do artists command such followings? There are no easy answers.
How does the market work?
The price I quoted in my book, 23 lakh, is an actual price for a painting. Prices get set over a period of time through accretion. There is a linear primary market where the rates begin. The secondary market moves on its own free will. No one can control it and the pricing is never logical. That is where the action happens. It’s a small, incestuous, well-to-do market with few artists, very few buyers, a lot of egos and personalities.
How have you portrayed this world in your book Artist, Undone?
I wanted to show two things; the impact art can a have on a person and how people in their 40s are in a crisis. It’s about an outsider’s entry into this world and the journey they go through.
Do you give yourself the vantage point of an outsider?
I am an insider. It’s such a small market that there is no place to hide. I can’t call myself an outsider and take pot-shots at people on the inside. But the advantage of fiction is that I can claim to be talking about a character.
Are artists sexier than other people?
They are complex people with fewer inhibitions. They think differently from a lot of us who have very ordered lives. That is a point of fascination. But they are narcissistic and hedonistic and proud to be so. There is no modesty in the art world. They aren’t a breath of fresh air, but a storm.
What was it like writing and releasing a debut book?
I never understood why an artist, pre-launch, would be nervous. Now that I’ve written a book and it’s out in the open, I get it. It’s like standing in your underwear in public.
Aradhna Wal is a Sub-Editor with Tehelka.
aradhna@tehelka.com
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