Gallery 93, Hyderabad’s new artspace

Art binds these two; a fact they discovered soon after they met. When Hyderabad-based manufacturer Veeral Reddy met jewellery designer Tanushree Guptha on October 22 at his house for the first time, all they knew was that their families knew each other. While Veeral is the son of artist-parents Rohini and Srinivas Reddy, Tanushree is the daughter of art collector Kishan Agarwal. Having discovered they shared a strong common artistic vision, just a week later the duo launched Gallery 93, a new artspace — named after their year of birth — at Radha Krishna Nagar in Attapur.

The gallery in a residential colony is enveloped in a sea of calm on the ground floor of Veeral’s double-storied home where he lives with his family. Since Tanushree too lives in the same colony, collaboration has been easy.

“This is an endeavour to create more room for not just art but also its other forms like jewellery, furniture and textiles. The intent is to make it a vibrant space with a library and coffee shop to attract people of different tastes. Art will be affordable but will not lose its aesthetics,” says the duo.

Spread over a 1000 square feet, the gallery space was earlier a working studio for Veeral’s parents. “It was my father’s dream to have a space of his own to display works and I am glad that wish is fulfilled,” he says. A nine-feet fibreglass statue of Arudra (the original in bronze is in Visakhapatnam) created by Veeral’s father stands majestic in the hall. Adorning the walls and tables are Tanjore paintings of different sizes (from 3 inches to large canvases in 5×5 feet) priced ₹1100 upwards.

An engineering graduate, Veeral had worked in Australia before returning to Hyderabad to start his own firm, Suveera in Balanagar. He loves to draw and create new designs. “With parents as masters at home, I didn’t want to go to a university to pursue art. My interest was to learn machinery so that I could blend both the fields (art and engineering) to create innovative sculptures, maybe kinetic figures that change according to one’s mood,” he says. Veeral creates innovative designs for clients and his firm that manufactures precision engineering components had recently had created such components for artist Komari Ranganath’s installation.

Collecting art has been a family legacy in Tanushree’s maternal household “My grandfather has been an art collector and my father has been collecting for around 50 years,” she points out. The Tanjore art works at the gallery, sourced from different artists, are from this collection. Tanushree designs ethnic jewellery and displays pieces at her store Amaravati Treasure of Jewels. Though her husband who practices law and in-laws are not into art, they support her endeavour.

Tanushree feels the gallery location in a cosy residential neighbourhood enhances the experience of enjoying art. “Having galleries in colonies is common in Delhi and Mumbai. It provides a serene experience and the location is not intimidating too. The idea is to cater to different sections of society so that everyone can enjoy a bit of art in their lives,” she says.

With the art business being risky, do these newcomers fear failure? Tanushree responds, “We spoke to our respective spouses and they encouraged us to follow our dreams. We know we are on the right path.” Veeral adds, “It was our parents’ dream to have a gallery but they are not involved in this; it is we who are trying to make a mark.”

They plan to expand the gallery to showcase custom-made furniture, fine art and customised bronze sculptures and ethnic jewellery.