A handout image of the ‘Maximum Nano’ art car released yesterday to the media.
By Ashraf Padanna/Kochi
The auction of Maximum Nano, the Tata Nano car painted by celebrated Indian artist and chairman of Kochi-Muziris Biennale and exhibited at the LuLu Mall, will go on auction tomorrow.
The auction begins at 8pm and closes at the same time the next day. The bids can be register in the travel and leisure catalogue of www.saffronart.com. The lot number of the car is 52. The entire proceeds from the auction, hosted by India’s largest auction house, will go the KMB Trust which runs India’s only biennale-four months after its conclusion.
“The event bears pan-Indian significance considering that this would be the country’s first art car auction,” said Krishnamachary, who has started work on the second edition of the contemporary art extravaganza along with co-curator Riyaz Komu.
“We had chosen the Nano because it is the common man’s car,” said the Mumbai-based artist who coloured the serene-white vehicle, said he had used “maximum colours possible” in the four-day exercise that began on February 14.
The 96-day biennale showcased works of 90-odd artists from within India and abroad at 14 venues around Kochi before it ended on March 17 and was visited by several celebrities including film stars John Abraham, Mammootty and Mohanlal.
Krishnamachari started works on the car after superstar Mohanlal handed over to him the self-signed Nano at a crowded roadside function in this Kerala port city. The 50-year-old artist included the work, titled ‘Maximum Nano’, under his renowned series Stretched Bodies.
“I used automotive paint. That will ensure the longevity of the work. We have got it laminated as well,” said Krishnamachari. The car was moved on to suburban Edappally a day after the biennale. It has since been exhibited at the Lulu Mall.
“On its part, the Saffronart chose to call the ‘art car’ as an installation. It will be auctioned with a zero reserve price — the bidding starts at a mere Rs100,” Shivajirao Gaekwar of the Mumbai-based auction house said. “This is keeping in line with Bose’s well-known abstract idiom, this vivid, drivable installation evokes the myriad colours and emotions of India”.
The vehicle was donated to the KBF by Coffee Beanz of this city and La Gallery 360 of Thiruvananthapuram.