Young artists all over the country are deeply influenced by the fast changing surroundings and thoughts of the younger generation. This is clearly on display at the All India Art exhibition on view till next week at the Chitramayee State Gallery of Art inaugurated by Raghvendra Singh Chauhan, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court.
Nearly 250 works of art at this exhibition bring out the thoughts of the present generation of artists. From Hyderabad, Komakula Rajasekhar who has been working on a series of goats, says , “Since my childhood, I have always been seeing goats in my village and also at Shantiniketan. I have strong memories of my grandfather telling stories of the ‘imaginary ghosts’ which would come and take us away if we did mischief or did not sleep on time. Thus, my surrealism and dream art gave wings to the goats which started becoming imaginary flying objects with robust looks.”
An artwork by Sukalyan Dutta on display.
Mohd Asgar Ali, a BFA student from Jawaharlal Nehru Fine Arts University, Hyderabad has created a very unique installation in fiber which brings out the portrait of Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi from all sides. But it was no easy task, says Ali, who adds, “I was inspired by the work of an international artist who made a similar installation on Nelson Mandela. But that installation had a view from a single side only. I had to work for more than seven months and had to scrap a few installations before getting this accurate installation.”
Tirumala Thirupathi's art installation about overburdening children with heavy books.
Sumanto Chowdhury, who has done his Masters from Sarojini Naidu School of Art, finds the fast changing landscape merging with the vanishing natural surroundings. “In the past, I have made Gangireddu (Bull) in wood, but was always dissatisfied for not being able to bring out a three dimensional effect. This time, I have made it in fiber and it has brought life into the work,” explains Sumanto.
Even simple everyday objects find their way into this exhibition, sometimes with a twist, as in the case of Karunakar Chikkonda from Hyderabad, who has displayed a surprising installation of a Chair on two legs. “Many a times, we do things out of passion. They are viewed as unbalanced by the society like the first impression of this chair on two legs. But from an artist’s point of view, it’s still balanced. An artist has a certain perspective and view of the happenings in society. It need not be the voice of majority,” says Karunakar.
Not to be left behind, Beauteous by artist Bijayalaxmi Rana from Hyderabad is all about women and nature. Meanwhile, Sukalyan Dutta from Hyderabad wonders how the ‘blue boundaries’ of new constructions demarcate ownership and the changing landscape of the city. “I have brought in the Mughal miniatures on one side of my paintings to show how the past rulers would feel about the division of their empire into parcels of lands having their own fenced walls,” says Sukalyan. Tapping into an area of concern, Tirumala Thirupathi from Hyderabad has exhibited the woes of young children who are overburdened with heavy books in their educational pursuits through his art installation.
