In my previous article, I delved into my theory on how the process of collecting art is like meeting one’s ‘new loves and old flames’. We travel around the world to see art and while seeing works by artists we’ve been following for a long time, we also encounter endless surprising new talents which become our new favourites. Reflecting on this phenomena, I thought why not start a series, centering and discussing collectors ‘new loves and old flames’ to find out which artists collectors and art industry people are currently looking at?
My first collector in this series is a friend of mine, Shalini Passi, an Indian collector based in New Delhi who is also a talented artist and philanthropist.
Shalini’s love affair with art dates back to her childhood! Her earliest memories of art stem from a black and white landscape painting created by her father, while her childhood visits to museums and galleries of different cultures helped her to nurture and build her relationship with art.
Shalini’s upbringing ensured that from an early age, she has had access to high-culture and the social resources available to the Indian elite. It was a privileged upbringing but the resources she has accumulated from her father, her natural talent, her constant research and her passion for the arts are all essential elements that have made Shalini the person she is today. They have enabled her to utilise the resources she has and generously devote herself to the arts and good causes.
While Shalini appears to be living a socialite lifestyle and is always incredibly glamorous on Instagram, behind the scenes, she has been instrumental in advancing the development of India’s art scene. Her taste in art has made her a prominent member of the advisory board of Khoj Studios (a Delhi-based non-profit contemporary art organisation) since 2012, and she is a patron of the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) and a member of the Kochi-Muziris International Biennale. She is also a patron of FICA (Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art) and a long-standing patron of the Kochi-Muziris International Biennale. To further her artistic ambitions, Shalini started her own eponymous art foundation and digital platform for art and culture, MASH (My Art Shalini @mash_india), to better encourage artists from all walks of life to expand their creativity and take art to new avenues.
Shalini’s passion for promoting India’s contemporary culture is also prevalent in her daily life. When we travel together, she is always full of enthusiasm talking about the current happenings in arts and culture in India, from noteworthy galleries and upcoming contemporary artists and designers in India. It was her who first showed me the Indian Actor Ranbir Kapoor’s famous “towel-dance” song “Jab Se Tere Naina” on the rooftop in Venice, which soon became my summer favourite – I recommended it to all my girl and gay friends to watch and beat summer heat waves. She also introduced me to the 80s classic “Jawani Jan-E-Man”, a tune which automatically lifts your mood … In Shalini, you can see that the real passion for something is not simply signing up to some official project or putting up the name of some organisation, but it comes out in her everyday conversation, into which she puts passion into the little things of life and has fun with it.
Next: Indian’s 80s hit ‘Jawani Jan-E-Man’
Shalini Passi’s personal art collection includes some of the most coveted names in contemporary art, such as thought-after Indian artists Bharti Kher, Anita Dube and Atul Dodiya; major international artists Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst; Indian modernist masters MF Husain, Manjit Bawa and Ram Kumar, to name but a few. In addition to enriching her own collection, Shalini Passi’s passion for art and design is reflected in her collection of furniture, tapestries and rare antiques. Her original ambition was to become an architect, but her shortcomings in mathematics forced her to give up the idea, which fortunately led to extensive reading on different schools of architecture, opening up Shalini’s horizons, and from the 1980s onwards she began to meet and learn about different artists and designers, visiting studios frequently and laying the foundations for her now diverse collection.
On the curved wall of the corridor is Rivas Komu’s 2010 work Lost Resonance II, made from recycled wood, automotive paint and tin, with Ravinder Reddy’s sculpture of a female head placed in the middle. On the far wall is a mixed media installation from Anita Dube’s 1999 series Sade Theatre. Image Source: AD India
The floors, walls and ceilings of Shalini’s nearly 2,000 square metre mansion in Golf Links, one of the most expensive areas in New Delhi, are adorned with rare works of art, not only Indian art, but also important contemporary works by artists and designers such as Ron Arad, Vladimir Kagan, Flemish Cabinet and Herve Van Der Straeten. Shalini Passi’s home and fabulous collection, is not only a sight to behold, but also evokes the strong personal narrative of a private collector. Behind each piece of the collection is a connection or story about Shalini’s own history, and personal interaction with artworks and artists.
As a collector, Shalini has always seen art as an extension of the cultural, social and ideological developments of an era. She continues to explore how art can be linked to her own vision of innovation and creativity while using images and photographs to weave multiple narratives for telling these stories of the past and present through her role as an artist.
‘Old flames’ – one of Shalini’s favourite pieces in the collection and what makes it so special:
Several pieces in Shalini’s collection are particularly dear to her as they relate to her history and personal memories. One of her favourites is Theatre of Sade (1998) by Anita Dube, who made an in-depth study of the liberal philosophy underlined in the literature of the Marquis de Sade. Shalini is fascinated by Dube’s visual language as a way of expressing her views on different cultures and social phenomena through her work.
A recent acquisition:
A recent addition to the Shalini Passi collection is Anish Kapoor’s classic work entitled Random Triangular Mirror. Made of highly polished stainless steel, the work is also Kapoor’s exploration of the relationship between light, space and image production. The image on the concave surface becomes a separate element in the work as it is refracted by the surface. She feels that this work is a meditative presence, which integrates perfectly with the rest of the collection around it and enhances the atmosphere in the space.
‘New Loves’ – What are the 3 most recent artists discovered by Shalini Passi?
One of Shalini’s more recent favourites is the French artist JR, in particular his fascinating work entitled Ballet, Palais Royal, Paris, France, 2020, in which JR photographs the ballerinas on the roof of the Palais Royal in Paris. Those familiar with his work will quickly notice that subjects on roofs recurs many times in his work, and that similar locations have become an outlet for the artist’s introspection, dialogue and expression. Furthermore, by juxtaposing the grand cityscape with the graceful balletic figure, the artist continues to experiment with deepening his creative practice in relation to balletic elements, as presented in Portrait of a Generation, Women as Heroes.
Continuing the idea of connecting artistic practice with stories of personal experience, there is a chilling quality to photographer Soumya Shankar Bose’s Discreet Exit Through the Dark, which was also exhibited at this year’s India Art Fair, in which Bose’s photographs retell the impact of his mother’s disappearance as a nine year old on her family. Adopting a magical realist style to emphasise fragmented collective memories, the photographs are shrouded in an aura of mystery and hallucinatory shadows that inspire a sense of spectacle, thus expressing the minimalist aesthetic of the photographic medium.
In a similar vein, Shalini Passi discusses the work of artist Faiza Hasan, who is in sync with the narrative style of the contemporary Indian visual art system. She says Hasan finds a more personal perspective – the work is like a visual story written in charcoal and gold, but also an emotional record of the artist’s own life: how life unfolds around her in moments of stillness and movement. In Shalini’s view, her contemplation of the ordinary everyday is endlessly intriguing.
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Text: Luning
Copyedit: Rosie
