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Karan Singh Grover: Unfair that artists don’t get anything upon resale of art
Actor Karan Singh Grover opens up about artist royalty, and NFTs being the future of art. Prepping for his upcoming exhibition, at India Fine Arts Gallery in Mumbai, he shares there is yet another show in the works, by terrain.art.
Since actor Karan Singh Grover’s explorations in art began, back in 2016, they have been intertwined with his spiritual journey, from which he has “learned a lot”. And the self-taught artist who feels evolution is inevitable in every sphere of life, states that “for art, the next inevitable is non-fungible tokens (NFTs)”.
Many celebs from India’s entertainment industry have joined the NFT bandwagon, in the form of tie-ups and investments, and Grover admits, “I’m not at all averse to going the NFT way! You could see me heading that way soon. I believe in evolution, in whichever different way it’s happening. Even if you don’t understand it, it’s still gonna happen, and if you take part in it voluntarily, it’s going to help you more. While I haven’t really had the inclination to understand what it (NFT) is, I know that is where the future is headed. I will have to make myself more aware before I do anything in this space.”
He has been painting under the name, Star Infinity, and created several series at his studio in Mumbai, many of which combine an abstract visual vocabulary with spontaneity and flair. His works, which have been exhibited previously, are all set to be showcased in a brand new show, early next month, at India Fine Arts Gallery in Mumbai. “Another exhibition is also in the works, by terrain.art,” he informs, adding: “I also have plans for investing in NFTs. Just that it’s a concept I’m not 100% quite sure of, yet. I’ve been a little lazy to find out what it is. That happens with me because I’m so immersed in what I do (chuckles)... I have this thing that I need to create everyday in my life, whether that’s in acting or painting.”
But the artist is him isn’t happy about the inaccessibility to royalty when art travels from one buyer to another. “It’s very unfair that the original creator does not get a penny out of further resales of the artwork. Even when the artworks’ value is in crores. It’s also a good thing for an artist to know that their work is so valuable now, and people have come to understand and value it more. But it s***s that they don’t get anything from it! Which is why, NFT is the way to go to secure the intellectual property and rights of all creators... When you know that art is an appreciating asset, then the creator of such appreciating assets should also get something,” says the 39-year-old.
Mentioning how the heirs of Western masters of art such as Pablo Picasso — who have recently put up Picasso’s works digitally as NFTs — will reap the benefits for a long time, Grover strongly feels that “it’s an exciting time” for the art world. “Instead of just creating, I should get down to collecting more information on it and go that way,” he exclaims.
The many lockdown periods during the pandemic couldn’t deter Singh from continuing his passion for art. He shares how he made “a lot of stuff” ranging from really small canvases to ones that are as large as the height of an average human being. And for the upcoming show, he has done some pieces in only black and white. “I realised that the new black and white pieces I’m making are actually different versions of the first pieces I made. The whole series has huge pieces. Then I moved on the series called Yellow Rhythmic Warrior, which is a concept in the Mayan number system according to one’s birth time and year. I fell into the Yellow Rhythmic Warrior phase and have been painting by just learning about that. There’s another series where I’ve tried to portray how a soul would travel from another galaxy... What’s going to be exhibited is a wide collection of my works,” he concludes.
Author tweets @siddhijainn
