Flaunt your artist upfront : RANA SIDDIQUI , The Hindu, 23 jun 2006

Flaunt your artist upfront : RANA SIDDIQUI , The Hindu, 23 jun 2006

a teeshirt printed with neeraj goswami's painting

Wear a shirt, advocate a cause. That is Prince Singhaal's formula as he blends art with a social purpose.

ART IN MY HEART Prince Singhaal and Neeraj Goswami's creation on a T-shirt. Prince Singhaal is at it again, with an additional `a' to his surname. The young man who is seen at all important social events, has now thought of a new idea to promote creations of contemporary artists. This time you have works of the likes of Jogen Choudhary, Bose Krishnamachari, Paresh Maity, Jai Zarotia, Gopi Gajwani, G.R. Santosh, Harshwardan, Suhas Roy, Shanti Dave, Shamshad Husain, Laila Khan Rajpal among 22 artists who have their creations printed on white cotton/ polyester mixed T-shirts. "I have also mixed lycra in the fabric to keep it upmarket. Some of the tee's are printed in Singapore," says Singhaal.

He has divided the artists into senior and junior categories. For senior artists like Paresh, Bose, Jogen he has kept the price at Rs.1200 and for junior ones as Laila Khan and G.R. Santosh's son Shabbir, at Rs.600. And if you want these T-shirts with the signature of the artists themselves, you have to shell out an additional Rs.5000 for senior artists and Rs.2000 for junior ones. Singhaal will take these collections to Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore also.
"Those who can't afford expensive paintings of contemporary artists would at least be able to make a fashion statement and keep these T-shirts as memorabilia," he reasons.

Another way of making money through art and riding on the ever-confused psychology of the neo-art lovers? Or pandering to people for whom art is more a means to flaunt their possessions than a passion?

No joke this

Singhaal objects, "Absolutely not. The sales from the proceeds of these shirts will go towards the Campaign Against Drunken Driving - CADD. I have no government or corporate support for it. The profit from the sales of these shirts would be spent in buying orange colour ribbon which would be tied on vehicles, especially two and four wheelers across five cities in India. These ribbons will be tied on the mirrors of two wheelers and antennae of the cars to remind them not to drink."

Amid allegations of using artists for his own benefit, Singhaal had made a clean sweep by advocating the cause for four years now. "It has yielded results too," he claims. "People will keep on saying what they want to. But that artists are supporting me for these many years without expecting returns proves my sincerity to the cause. I own an event management company. So I have no dearth of money. I lead by example. Only last year I threw a designated driver party to forward this cause in which I invited socialites with their drivers, and even teetotallers. But many of them thought it was just a joke and they came driving while they smelt of alcohol. I had made a police arrangement there. All those who drank and drove their vehicle to my party, were challaned. All these were celebrities often seen in page three circles. I had to become ruthless to show them that I meant what I said. They were angry with me and said they wouldn't attend my party in future. I told them that CADD is not against drinking. It is against drunken driving. I asked them to be responsible for their actions. Now I see a tremendous change in people coming to page three parties and adhering to limited drinks. CADD is actually yielding results," says Singhaal.

The printed shirts are also available online at artontees.org.