Rarely does one come across a house that is built around art. The Passi residence in South Delhi was conceived of keeping in mind their envious collection of art and furniture that represent avant-garde design trends. ‘All the walls of our home are painted white so the works of art can remain the focus, and all the corridors and halls are designed to be like mini- galleries with proper lighting,’ says Shalini Passi, patron of the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art and founder of the recently launched Shalini Passi Foundation that focuses on supporting artists working in new media.
Architecture and design were an integral part of my growing up. My grandfather and father had a business of construction and real estate development. As a result, the idea of creating space, architectural detailing and design were commonplace for our household. The dinner table discussions would be on how the latest project is being laid out or what is unique about the cladding of a certain building. There was no escaping the creatives for me. While I am more known as a patron and collector of art, my bigger passion is fashion and design.
Art was my choice of career.
Not many may know now, but I studied art and also practiced painting. From doing clay work in school to formally getting trained as a painter, art had always been my focus. My first solo show in 2006 was held in New Delhi. I was very focused on my practice. As is my personality – somewhat obsessive – I was investing most of waking hours in painting. I was so engrossed with my art that it started to impact my health. But soon I realized that my paintings were just pretty pictures. They lacked depth and soul. On self-introspection, I came to the conclusion that my life was too comfortable and protected to really engage with the real world. There was little opportunity for me to get meaningful inspiration. There was no point in my continuing to paint beautiful images that just displayed my skill and technique. As a result, my art practice got left behind.
I started to collect for this house.
This story is from the April - May 2019 edition of Arts Illustrated.
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This story is from the April - May 2019 edition of Arts Illustrated.
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