Art, straight from the horse’s mouth, at Mumbai gallery

Walk into the Jehangir art gallery this week and you’ll be greeted by 50 life-sized horse’s heads, each painted on by a renowned artist, for a good cause.

Walk into the Jehangir art gallery this week and you’ll be greeted by 50 life-sized horse’s heads, each painted on by a renowned artist, for a good cause.

The showstopper is an 8-ft-tall sculpture painted by the celebrated Paris-based artist Sujata Bajaj, using a vibrant palette of red, ochre and blue.(HT)

One features the Mumbai skyline, another a splash of bubblegum pink, and a third a jet black head studded with faux gems to resemble a constellation. These sculptures are part of Breaking Barriers, a fundraising exhibition conceptualised by Tarana Khubchandani of Gallery Art and Soul. “We chose the horse as the motif because it’s a positive and dynamic animal that shows movement. It resonates with us all,” she says.

The horse heads have been designed and sculpted by Arzan Khambatta. Khubchandani roped in 30 artists to paint on them, including Paresh Maity, Seema Kohli, Brinda Miller, Jayasri Barman, and the veteran artist couple Manu and Madhvi Parekh.

The showstopper is an 8-ft-tall sculpture painted by the celebrated Paris-based artist Sujata Bajaj, using a vibrant palette of red, ochre and blue. “Painting the horse took 10 days, and was overwhelming. But as a surface it wasn’t much different from a canvas,” Bajaj says.

The sculptures will be up for sale at prices ranging from Rs2 lakh to Rs3 lakh. The funds raised will be donated to two charities — Passages and Khelshala. The former, headed by Khubchandani, offers financial aid to women fighting breast cancer. Khelshala uses sport to empower low-income, underserved children. Gallery Art and Soul was launched in 2003 to raise social awareness through art, and does this through periodic fundraisers, such as the recent cARTpet Project where works by eminent artists were reproduced on carpets to support breast cancer awareness. “Via such shows, art collectibles become available at a reasonable price to young art collectors,” says Khubchandani. “One can own big names in the art world and also contribute to a good cause at the same time.”

Breaking Barriers will be held from November 28 to December 5 (Jehangir art gallery, Kala Ghoda); December 6 to December 15 (Gallery Art and Soul, Worli). Entry free.