Little Egg Gallery shows work from kids as young as 3 and as old as 17
We’re profiling cool kids doing cool things.
Know someone you think should be profiled on our site?
Email us at [email protected] and tell us what makes them so awesome.
Name
Nalin Kamat
Hometown
Toronto, Ontario
Age
14
Claim to fame
A year ago, Nalin Kamat submitted his art to a gallery.
He scrolled down a long form, listing the terms and conditions, only to find that they wouldn’t accept artists under 18.
“It was really disheartening,” said Nalin, who works with charcoal and oil paints and has been drawing since he was two.
“Most artists feel like you have to go on a certain path. First, you have to go to university or college and only then can you display your work. But it made me think, why do we need to wait so long? Like, there’s so much creativity, so much wonderful artwork, it should be displayed.”
So Nalin did something wild — last year, he created his own commercial art gallery called the Little Egg Gallery in midtown Toronto.
This time, he’d be the curator, helping artists under 18 to show their work at their very own art shows, open to the public.
Some of those pieces would even get sold for $300 each.
How Little Egg works
With the help of his parents, who pay for his rental space, Nalin began taking submissions for Little Egg’s first group show in spring 2022.
He discovered a diverse range of artists working in sculpture, painting and textiles by contacting local arts high schools and asking for submissions.
On their website, the gallery says they want to “showcase the next generation of local artistic talent.”
The latest exhibit wrapped up earlier this month.
It included a variety of pieces hanging on the gallery’s white walls, including rock sculptures, a screen-printed poncho and photos from a photographer based in Uganda, Africa.
People visit the Little Egg Gallery in Toronto in spring 2023. (Image submitted by Nalin Kamat)
Since it opened up last year, Little Egg Gallery has had three public group shows and hopes to do more in 2024.
More than 150 kids submitted works to the latest Spring Under 18 show.
Nalin and a professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) University named David Griffin narrowed it down to about 50.
Griffin also judged a competition, awarding Pokemon, an abstract painting by a five-year-old boy, the grand prize.
Jack Gamble’s abstract painting, simply called Pokemon, was the winner of a juried art contest at Little Egg’s Spring Under 18 group exhibition. The artist is five years old. (Image credit: Little Egg Gallery)
“A lot of these artists were normally just doing stuff in their school,” said Nalin.
“Now, some of them are coming back for a third time, so they’re super pumped. It’s important to encourage artists and for people to see their work.”
To support themselves, the gallery takes a 15 per cent commission fee off any sales and charges a small “hanging fee” for any selected artwork, though Nalin can’t support himself financially from it yet.
Artists who want to have their own solo or group show can also rent space in the gallery.
Nalin’s future in the art world
Between running his own gallery, Nalin, who is homeschooled, is getting ready for upcoming art fairs in New York City, New York, and Washington, D.C.
He paints every day at his studio and is inspired by Spanish artist Salvador Daíl and Canadian painter Lawren Harris.
At the art fairs, he’ll meet with collectors who may buy his work.
His latest series of charcoal drawings, called Dispositions, deals with the human figure as a metaphor for the way he feels himself changing during adolescence.
A charcoal drawing by Nalin Kamat titled Enigmatic. His paintings can sometimes take up to five days to create.
In an interview with CBC Kids News, David Griffin called Nalin a “remarkable young fella.”
“I’d never seen a gallery that in its vision statement says it wants to include the work of artists that are five years old,” said Griffin.
“How do you distinguish between the beautiful strange drawing of a pizza by a five-year-old to something that was done with some sort of craft awareness of a 16-year-old? It was difficult to make those decisions, but what a joy.”
Nalin said he believes that young artists are free to be more creative.
“I think when you’re younger, you have more creativity. You see beauty in more things and when you get older, it kind of stops,” he said.
“I don’t want to stop anyone from creating their art.”
Have more questions? Want to tell us how we’re doing? Use the “send us feedback” link below. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
TOP IMAGE CREDIT: Chandler Levack/CBC Kids News
