A group of thirteen local artists have made up their mind to create a memorable experience for Hyderabadis with their artworks that redefine and refresh the core of contemporary expression. Art Nouveu 8x12, which begins this weekend at the State Art Gallery, is an eclectic mix of paintings, sculptures, installations, video art and performances.
The curator of the show, Maninder Daver of India Fine Arts, Mumbai shares the enthusiasm of the bunch and says, “They were all so inspired by the Kochi Biennale that they decided they would do a different art show in here too. They planned to do a show on large-format canvases and agreed on the monumental size of 8 feet by 12 feet! When I was approached to curate the show, I just jumped at the opportunity.” Anand Gadapa, one of the artists from the show shares his experience too, “All of us are excited as it is a first-of-its-kind show here. The artists have voluntarily chosen to work on large-scale canvases and made an attempt to experiment with their conventional approaches on a challenging visual space along with trying their hand at new media. The show will begin with a performance by Priyanka Aelay, which is sure to intrigue the viewers.” One of the works that embraces and salutes the simplistic yet creatively charged spirit of rural life and portrays folk artists is called Sharadakandru, created by Laxman Aelay. “My work took a turn when I was doing a pilot project on vintage film posters during my Ph.D course work. That is when I got the idea of painting portraits of the common man on a monumental scale just as the heroes on a film banner,” he explains. On the other hand, both artists Shyam Bharath Yadav and Nagesh Goud have worked with the bull as the core metaphorical form but using distinctly different perspectives and stylisations. In his black-white-grey composition, Nagesh reinstates the latent strength of the animal, which is real as well as divine while Bharath repeats the robust form of the bull in varied stances in his work titled Crowded Isolation to create a closed, packed space, which symbolically represents a highly-populated urban terrain.
‘Mapping my city’, is another engaging painting, by Nirmala Biluka, that ponders deeply about the changes that have taken place in Hyderabad, shaping the city from time to time, both geographically and culturally. Equally noteworthy is the steel and scrap metal sculpture by Shivaramachary, which manifests the journey of an artist in a simplified, semi-realistic diction. Known for his monumental sculptures, he elaborates on his present work, “The journey is more important to me than the destination itself.” Evidently, the artist’s stream of thought gets manifested in a 3D avatar in his work.
