By IANS
New Delhi : Steel is generally perceived as a metal meant for industry rather than sculpture, but a unique exhibition in the capital will strive to change that by showcasing life-sized and larger than life figurines — all made of pure stainless steel.
Saptarishi, as the exhibition is called, will see the works of seven artistes from across the country who have been working for this show for the past three months.
Deepika Jindal, chairperson of lifestyle brand Art d’inox, and the brain behind the show, said that the theme of the exhibition revolves around the merging of modernity and tradition.
“The word Saptarishi comes from the spiritual number seven. There are seven artistes who have created this line of work, which has a hint of tradition merged with modernity.
“Although there have been exhibitions of steel artefacts before but it is for the first time that such a large scale show will be put up,” Jindal told IANS.
In all, 30 stainless steel artefacts will be exhibited during the five-day show and some of them are as tall as 20 feet.
None of the seven artistes have worked with steel earlier.
Therefore, although the exhibition is scheduled to open Saturday, the artistes are still fumbling over last minute finishing touches and polishing and the catalogue for the show is still not ready.
“Steel is not an easy medium to work on. You can’t mould it well if you don’t have very good welding machines. Also, the material is very expensive. That’s why not many people want to get into this line of work. Despite not working with steel before the artistes have done a brilliant job,” Jindal said.
“There are many advantages of stainless steel artefacts. They are long lasting and need no maintenance. And they look very classy,” she added.
Although the prices of the sculptures are not yet fixed, they can be between Rs.1.5 million and Rs.2 million.