A visit to No1. ShantiRoad Studio Gallery

I happened to visit No. 1 Shanti Road Studio/Gallery this week and I must agree it in on par with any famed art-house. Abhisheka's mail about pottery exhibition by a group of Aurovilleans got me excited and curious and I knew that this weekend has to be fruitful and spent at this place.

The Studio/Gallery at 1.Shanthiroad provides space for slide lectures, small conferences, installations, performances, screenings and informal gatherings for artists and the alternative art community. This studio/gallery was founded by Suresh Jayaram, a masters in Fine Arts from MS Univeristy Baroda. He is a visual artist, and an art historian. Jayaram says "Since it’s inception in 2003 1.Shanthiroad has grown to house artists from diverse countries in its residency program. It believes in fostering interaction between artists, curators, scholars, writers and young students in the local and global context. We collaborate, share and have interactions with the local artist community."

Being in Bangalore -a cosmopolitan and eclectic city that teems with  art and craft connoisseurs, and founded by a true Bangalorean, the architecture of this place mirrors this fact magnificently.

Climbing up through the spiral staircase, the studio is located on the first floor. Its simple and green environs instantly attracted me.
The entrance welcomed the visitors with floating Nagalingam flowers (also called as Cannon Ball Flowers; Couroupita guianensis) arranged on a blue pottery plate. The flowers were not fresh but their drying pale colour added a mystic charm to the entire room.

The wall next to the entrance door adorned with two ceramic face masks spoke about the place.

A dry half-pod, a brown wood-fired ceramic piece, and an incense stick holder..! Rusty look, down to earth.



Let there be light!.

A view from the inside the studio of the terrace. Check the flooring of the terrace. Circular and earthy indeed.

 

The metal lotuses... I am impressed...

And this one

The notice boards, always bristling with colourful posters -some of them creative and artistic too -attract the visitors.

 

A part of the terrace where bougainvilleas bloom and add pink to the roof. 

Here terrace is a beautiful greened space.



And we notice a tiki face statue

...and our favorite Buddha, basking in the afternoon shade.

And Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (Christmas Kalanchoe) on a pedestal

A glimpse of the ongoing pottery exhibition at 1. ShantiRoad Studio Gallery
(in the terrace)


(inside the studio)



Some more wood carvings which were attractive:
A mirror's top

A tree trunk (carved  and soaking the sunlight in the terrace)

A beautiful chair that caught my attention.. The colorful table-mat on it was indeed eye catching.

I am sure this place is a delight for anyone who is artistic at heart and has a creative bent of mind.

1. Shanti Road Studio Gallery truly rocks.