by Vikash Kalra
Almost everything that can be conceived by the human mind and portrayed in traditional formats (music, art, architecture, etc) is said to be art.
Yet art is more than that.
When car companies advertise their product as “a work of art” we see what our concept of “art” really is. Art is a status symbol that’s reserved only for the very best. Art is more than ordinary.
But of course, this does not tell the whole story. Simple etchings on the walls of ancient caves tell the story of how people lived, how they worshiped and ultimately how they died. Art is truth, and history.
And there is even more. . . The Impressionists, Monet, Renoir, Degas and others, changed our conception of art. But they did not usher in completely new art—just a different style of art. They took familiar subjects and painted them with a new style, broad strokes almost rendering the pieces unfinished. Van Gogh took it to extremes and created priceless works in the process. Picasso and the Cubists also created a different kind of art primarily using geometric shapes. Art is, by definition, unique.
Finally, art is what the end user perceives it to be. For me personally it is a piece of work that can take me to a place either to recapture memories or to escape the realities of my existence.
Art, in all its forms, brings joy to the world and that is why it is so important. I am an artist because, believe it or not, it is the only knowledge that I have which was given to me by God. Everything else I know—from walking, talking and running a business were talents that I learned along the way. Not so with art. It has taken a long time but I have come full circle.
As an artist, I have arrived where I first began and I wish to be nowhere else.
Vikash Kalra is a self-taught artist and writer based in New Delhi whose work has been exhibited across India and is held in several private and corporate collections.