‘Art is the biggest lifter of one’s spirits’ — Silloo Daruwalla, Crimson Art Gallery

PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In this photo essay, we feature some of the colourful works on display in the monsoon collection at the Crimson Art Gallery.

In the earlier 140 posts, we brought you a wide range of creative photographs from an art fair, world music festival, painting fair, telecom expo, art museum, mobile showcase, math museum, social hackathon, bookstore, co-working space, sensorium, international design week, flower show, outdoor ads, startup roadshow, computer museum, startup T-shirts, business cards, art therapy, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, Vesak, jazz festival, modern art gallery, ecopreneurs, painter-poets, health activists, eNGOs and digital innovators.

The Crimson Art Gallery is tucked away in The Hatworks Boulevard, a restored heritage villa just off Cunningham Road. An earlier version of the gallery was started in Safina Plaza in 1989 by Silloo Daruwalla, and then moved to the current location ten years ago.

Silloo graduated from St Xavier's College in Mumbai, and was active in cultural activities right from campus days. Her husband Naozar is also an artist and hotelier, and runs an online art marketplace called Yepart.

For decades, the Crimson Art Gallery was the first platform for launching the works of many artists from Bengaluru and beyond. At any time, it features the works of over a hundred artists. The gallery’s annual monsoon show is a big draw, and currently features the works of Hukumlal Varma, Sunil Sarkar, Nishant Dange, Gurudas Shenoy, Sujata Achrekar, Bhaskar Rao, Praveen Kumar and others.

“Art is the biggest lifter of one’s spirits, it’s the biggest pick-me-up,” enthuses Silloo, referring to the beauty and wit embedded in art. “If you have a passion, get into art,” she advises. Her gallery promotes, trades and curates art for a range of professionals who include investors, aficionados and corporates.

In this photo essay, we capture some of the wide and colourful range of contemporary art at the gallery, covering oil paintings, water colour, mixed media works, and prints. So what have you done today to imbibe, inspire and invest in art?

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