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His art studio in his Mumbai home reflects his persona – all things vibrant and colourful. For actor Karan Singh Grover, painting is a profession and he enjoys “creating something new every single day”.
In an exclusive photoshoot, he tells us how monsoon this year has been extra special, thanks to his daughter, Devi Basu Singh Grover. “This monsoon has been different as it’s Devi’s first,” he says, adding, “Seeing her enjoy the rain was so inspiring as an artist. I created some interesting artworks and the series is called Fragments. Last monsoon, while we were setting up a room for Devi, a painting that I made many years ago broke accidentally. It had the Karuna Reiki symbols. So I utilised the broken glass from it in 6-7 of my paintings this monsoon. I made a lot of smaller stuff too.”
It was his wife, actor Bipasha Basu, who “encouraged me to give it (painting professionally) a shot”. Recalling how he started out as an artist almost seven years ago, he says, “I didn’t know that I could pursue painting professionally. When I met art curator Natasha Jaisingh — who is a close friend now — she explained to me the importance of painting daily and how I could get better at my work. Her feedback really helped. I started painting every single day and things started to change. I felt a progression as an artist.”
Grover recalls one of his first paintings, which was “7.5 feet by 4 feet”, called Step Into Galaxy 2.2. “I wasn’t even ready for that kind of canvas. I went to an art store and said, ‘Mujhe canvas de do and saare paints de do’,” he shares, adding that when he took a painting, called Blue, to Manvinder Singh Daver, a curator at India Fine Art in Mumbai, he really liked it. “He told me, ‘Just keep painting for two years and I will see your work in six months’. He has been instrumental in giving the right direction to my work. My first exhibition was slated for March 18, 2020, but everything got stalled due to the pandemic,” says the actor, who will next be seen in Fighter.
Having made almost 600 paintings so far, Grover admits that becoming a father has impacted him as an artist. “When we got pregnant, an artist friend told me that whenever a baby comes into our lives, things change and it reflects in our art as well. That did happen, as I made stuff that wasn’t exactly my style. The arrival of Devi and her energy helped unlock parts of my DNA. She’s a gift and her presence added depth to my art.”
While one might assume that his popularity as an actor would give impetus to his career as an artist, Grover disgrees: “My celeb status takes away from the way people perceive me as an artist”.
Sharing the career trajectory he wishes to carve out as a painter, he adds, “Besides India, I want to exhibit my work internationally too, because a lot of my paintings have been embraced by people in the US. Since I don’t come from an art background and I’m self-taught, it becomes difficult to be accepted in the fraternity, but I continue with my efforts every single day.”
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