Small is beautiful

In a room inside the La Gallery 360 in Thiruvananthapuram are displayed a few postcards with pictures of Jesus Christ or Lord Ganesha, between little green stamps and blurred postal addresses.

Artist Srinivasa Reddy expresses his creativity in these cards, framed to a size that would fit into an exhibition called 'Small is Big', a concept tested by many last year at the Pepper House in Kochi.

Sasikanth Prabha, the organiser, remembers the day when a group of artists came to him with a serious concern. Nobody buys art, could he suggest a way out? Sasikanth, a business facilitator, gave the matter a lot of thought. He got in touch with Anoop Kamath and the two of them came up with the concept of 'Small is Big'.

“One spends lakhs of rupees on a vehicle, thousands on a gadget. But when it comes to buying art, one is reluctant to shell out money," says Sasikanth. So they thought of bringing out art pieces in small sizes­ a miniature work not exceeding 9x7 inches. The artist can express contemporary ideas in this small space.

“The criterion was to be original and innovative. There are senior artists as well as first-timers on the show."

The exhibition titled 'Ripple' has more than 100 miniature works from more than 25 artists. “It is a subject of the big show we started within Kochi last year with more than 500 works from 100 different artists." That show was a success and encouraged the organisers to take what they started to other parts of the country.

After Thirvananthapuram, the next destination will be Coimbatore in January.

The show curated by Anoop Kamath and co-curated by Bhuvanesh Gowda, will be on in Thiruvananthapuram till December 30, from 11 am to 7pm.

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