What's in a frame?

At the centre of a gallery an artist occupies a bench He is as much a part of a conversation with me as he is with the painting in front of him which incidentally is his own work Thats Aniruddh Mehta during this interviewHis demeanour mdash of frequently stealing glances at his abstract expressionist monochromatic pieces mdash isnt unsurprising Mehta has been in the industry for nine years With over 40000 followers on Instagram his name is synonymous with a unique geometric graphic design identity Perfect is his first solo exhibition and that too in a space that has an identity of its ownMehta has 13 works on displayThe art gallery Method is the latest addition to SoBos art scene The gallery was conceptualised by Sahil Arora about nine months ago The lights are from the early nineties with custom holders Were going to be exhibiting Sajid Wajid Shshyashyikh and photographer Rema Chaudhary next he reveals adshyding that the gallery allows for complete artistic freedom when it comes to the style of works being exhibited or arrangement of pieces Mehta hishymself was encouraged to mashyke the wall his canvas But the framed pieces he has worked on over the last couple of years really does make a statementThe name comes from the idea of imperfection and questioning what perfection reshyally is I work a lot with symshymetry making sure every thing is pencil perfect at the right angles With this I broke those rules and embraced the abstraction that comes when you stop and let things go even when there are mistakes Mehta sharesCalling the exhibition Peshyrshyfshyect also opens up a dishyashylogue mdash especially for those who define abshyshysshytshyract art as a black line on white canvas For the 29yearold how the exhibition is received or how well it sells arent questions he prods himself with Mehta zooms into the tiny details in each frame while explaining his technique He highlights how one can analyse arm movements based on the angle of each stroke I was on my screen all the time So I went to the art store and picked up a bunch of tools I stumbled upon my technique and found variations Its essentially by using your entire arm at different speeds to get different results Each piece would take me about 510 minutes he explainsDefining the abstract for the art novice Mehta puts forward a simple analogy Its like reading a book versus watching a movie Its presenting the words to you and youre building a visual narrative in your headSahil AroraHe also highlights how abstract art reveals a certain kind of vulnerability that people who dont take a liking to abstraction do not open up to Mehta takes a walk down memory lane I remember being part of a conversation where someone walks into a modern art museum and sees this 8x8 foot painting of just a circle And the viewers dont get it and say Whats the big deal I couldve done this But you didnt The artist couldve done a lot more but one must ask what have they gone through in their lives where they stop and say Today Im going to paint one big circleON July 20 to August 11 11 am to 8 pmAT Method Nagindas Master Road Kala GhodaRSVP themethodinCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates