For artist Nagesh Goud, who has been unveiling myriad tales from the epics into visually engaging paintings and sculptures from a long time, Indian ethos has always been a consistent and strong aspect of his works. After finishing a degree in fine arts from JNAFAU, Hyderabad, Nagesh worked as an art director in Mumbai for some time. Later, he returned to Hyderabad and started his own agency, where he did design and print jobs for government departments. But his love and innate affinity for painting beckoned him to give up his settled life and turn into a full time professional artist.
A painting of Goddess Sita
There has been no looking back for Nagesh since then. Apart from painting, he is making serious attempts to revive and create awareness about the fading traditional art of Thollu bommalata (leather puppetry) through his art. Most of his works reflect a grace found in age old art forms like leather puppetry. The linear quality is intricate and lyrical; it carves out the silhouettes of the figures and then turns inside the form to define the details in an aesthetic and creative manner. The themes and concepts of the works, similar to those in the leather puppetry tradition, are completely inspired by tales from the Mahabharata and Ramayana.
Describing the works to be displayed in Canada, he says, “These works are based on the episodes and anecdotes of iconic characters such as Rama, Krishna, Shiva and Ganesh. There are so many instances and moments mentioned in our epics that one can create a series of works and still be able to touch only the tip of the iceberg.”
Nagesh is also looking forward to presenting a slide show of his artistic oeuvre as a part of the exhibition. He is ecstatic about his show and when asked about his plans on return, the artist discloses, “I have been working on a painting, eight feet by twelve feet, for a show, which will be later this year. Once I am back, I will attend to it with renewed dedication.”
