Nalin Kamat, 14, hatches idea to exhibit kids’ art, and Little EGG Gallery is born

When Toronto artist Nalin Kamat first contacted me about his one-of-a-kind venture Little EGG Gallery, I admit I chuckled. He wrote how he was motivated to open the art space on Eglinton Avenue East, “when I found how hard it is for kids to get gallery space for exhibiting their artwork.”

But after speaking to the 14-year-old artist, I realized I had to check my own attitude about who gets to take up space in our culture and on our gallery walls. Why don’t we celebrate young visual artists in the same way we do rising-star gymnasts or hockey players? And when artists do get a coveted show in a gallery, often it’s because they attended the right art schools where they connected with curators and other decision-makers.

“There are so few places that support young artists and they often don’t consider them real artists, which is weird because I often find that people are more creative when they’re younger,” said Kamat, whose self-possessed, quiet maturity makes it easy to forget his age. “You have to be more careful when you’re older, which can sometimes limit that creativity.”

Named after the street the gallery is on and a play on the idea of emerging artists, Little EGG is prepping for its new show, “Vibrante Under 18 Art Show,” which opens Saturday with a live performance (from a young guitarist, of course) and gives 40 international artists from Asia, Africa and North America a chance to showcase their work. A partnership with TD Salsa on St. Clair Street Festival, the juried exhibition features media of all types — including textiles, painting and sculptures — created by artists as young as four up to 17 years old, that speaks to the spirited colours of the Latin diaspora.

Word about the gallery is getting out: one of the show’s participants is a photographer from Uganda, who heard about the call for submissions from another artist. Kamat waived the entry fee to ensure she could exhibit. All artists who can’t ship their works because of costs will have them projected in the space during the run of “Vibrante.”

The show is juried by OCAD University professor and artist David Griffin, who wasn’t expecting the hundreds of submissions when he agreed to judge the exhibition and select its top prizes. “That was actually the trickiest bit for me because it’s a difficult task to discriminate between all the fine work in the show. I mean, there’s a qualitative difference between a five-year-old and a 15-year-old: how do you make a distinction between them? That said, all the work is excellent.”

Griffin got involved after walking past Little EGG with his wife during a family event at the gallery’s spring show and popped in to see what was happening. After learning about its mission, and being persuaded by Kalin to take part, Griffin came on board for “Vibrante.”

“From the perspective of an educator and an artist, the very idea that a gallery might have as its focus the work of young people and children strikes me as brilliant,” Griffin said.

“In my teaching, I often stress to students that making art is thinking about play, whether the language is in the form of words or dance or musical sounds, or the languages of visual art, which are colour, shape and space. Yes, making art well needs someone to learn the craft, the skills and the historical practices. But it’s essentially a form of play that adults aren’t always allowed to do. Young folks have this marvellous ability to express themselves freely, without anxiety.”

The initial idea for Little EGG came when Kamat was about 13, looking for places to present his own art. His paintings and, in particular, his latest series “Dispositions,” charcoal sketches detailing the human body, show a remarkable confidence in their strong lines and use of light.

He recalls prepping to submit his work for a juried show, but when he got to the final page of the online form and was about to hit the submit button, he realized it had been a waste of time. The last line of the terms and conditions stated that all artists must be over 18.

With the support of his parents, Kamat, who is home-schooled, juggles the gallery and his art practice along with his school work. He’s learned about running a gallery through trial and error, which is the same approach he takes with improving all aspects of his personal art practice. In between juried shows, Little EGG is available for rentals, provided that the artists are under 17. He offers assistance with pricing and market research (the gallery takes a 15 per cent commission), portfolio building, framing, merchandising and print-on-demand catalogues to mark each show.

The services the gallery offers come directly from Kamat’s own experiences trying to find his way through the labyrinthine art world. “I had absolutely no clue what to do,” he said. “For example, I didn’t even know what clothes to wear. I was googling ‘What do you wear to a reception?’ For that reason, we offer help for artists.”

Given how busy Kamat is, the gallery is mostly open by appointment. During the run of the show, visitors can book free tickets to five open themed nights running weekends in June and July, each of which has a colour theme. Guests are encouraged to wear a piece of clothing in that evening’s colour to be entered into a random draw.

The response to Little EGG has been so overwhelming that the next show is also booked up and the winter show scheduled for early next year is filling. Kamat also needs time to prep for his own work: he has his own first international shows coming up this fall in New York and in Washington, D.C.

“I’m going to see how that goes and where that leads me,” Kamat said. “That will probably open even more opportunities.”

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