It was not all that long ago when art was considered a blue chip investment and every young artist was feted and fawned over. Now the chips have come down, rates have fallen and collectors and galleries are playing safe. Young artists however, have figured,a collective effort might work in bringing Indian art full circle and reminding one of a time when the art directory boasted of numerous groups, including the Progressive Artists Group that had members like MF Husain and S H Raza. “A single artist can approach limited numbers. But together, we can pool in all our resources and the work gets divided in a group,” says Meenakshi Verma. The 22-year-old, who graduated in art from Tecnia Institute of Art and Design this year, has formed the Oorja group with batch mates Nitika Gupta, Geetanjali, Seema Jain and Jagriti Yadav. Their first exhibition concluded last week at AIFACS Gallery. “Organising a solo is expensive and in a group the cost is shared,” says Verma.

Pune-based Mariyam Ashraf Bahrainwala agrees. She is one of the 15 members of the group Platform 15 who flew to Delhi last month for an exhibition at Art Space gallery. “Even if one member does well the group attracts attention.” says Bahrainwala, 24. The group established last year at an art camp in Patna has members in Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Vadodara. While exhibitions take place under the banner of each group, there are no rules binding the members. “Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of an opportunity,” says Rahul Mukherjee, 31, who completed his post graduation in Fine Art from MS University, Baroda, in 2001. Last October he reunited with four batch mates to establish The Hub. “We hope to increase art awareness by organising workshops and camps. Our exhibitions will also feature work of young artists who are not associated with the group,” adds Mukherjee who organised an art camp in Baroda in April and has another lined-up for September.

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