Grandmasters, in conversation

At the Banyan Hearts Studio are artists Laxma Goud and Surya Prakash. Colleague Chippa Sudh­akar sits down with the two and the talk soon turns towards art, the intricacies of being ‘artist friends’ and more.

Sudhakar: Art has been very important for all of us, how do you think Hyderabad as our home ground has served?

Laxma: For an artist, the place where he works is of prime importance. As any other city could have been, Hyderabad has been extremely important.

Surya Prakash: I agree. But the city’s people have failed us so many times. The expectations we have from our work is not usually matched by the reactions we get. The art society in Hyderabad is still very poor. As I believe, there’s no place for art in the city people’s hearts.

Sudhakar: But with so many years of experience, keeping in mind the small art community in Hyderabad, the friendship has grown.

Laxma: I still remember the time when Prakash, Dakoji Devraj (who is in the US now) and me used to work in the art garage together. It’s not necessary that as artists we have to be friends. There’s a lot of open-mindedness that is required. Unless you are appreciative of what the other person does and are ready to not intrude, it is difficult.

Surya Prakash: We are selfish. We need time for ourselves, our families. We as artists used to be family and then we had our own families which needed our time. But we continue to share our experiences as and when we have the opportunity. We arrived together into this small community of Hyderabad. Yet again, it is difficult to stay in touch always. It is at camps like these that we meet.

Sudhakar: I’m glad that it is in this camp that great artists like both of you have come together. After such a long time, you have taken time out.

Surya Prakash: I have come to a point where my time is only my time and it is important to respect that. What is good about this camp here is that when I’m working, you and Laxma are here to help me.

Sudhakar: But I also believe we need to bring in new people into the world of art, not just artists, but enthusiasts.

Laxma: Sudhakar, people coming together for art should be a natural instinct. Also there are a lot of times when you don’t want intruders while you are working. As artists, we need to work in exclusivity. There are some who can work while being socially active, but there are others who need certain isolation.

Surya: Your thoughts, even while you are working with a lot of people, are private. I would say that it is these kind of camps that become a common ground; not forgetting that an artist values his time the most.

Laxma: There was also this science institute, CCMB (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology), with which Surya was associated. That was only for a particular scientist who wanted to bring science to the people in the form of art. Projects like these are good to merge the common man and art.

Surya: Yes, but then that was all free, because we believed in that approach. You can’t go ahead with the same approach, but we also have duties towards the society which we can fulfill with art.

This conversation was recorded by Deccan Chronicle’s Sanchita Dash