In its 10th edition, Deccan Brushstrokes has on display over 60 paintings by 32 artists at Taj Deccan. The four-day exhibition of artworks by emerging, mid-level and senior artists is the brainchild of Chandra Sekhar Gowd and Manjula Bhattacharya, founders of colourentice.com, an e-commerce company dedicated to fine arts.
Born out of a passion for the arts, colourentice.com was started by Chandra Sekhar and Manjula after more than a decade of working as professionals. “We were planning to start something to do with fine arts, since I’ve always had a passion for it. We eventually decided to start something that would provide a platform to emerging and mid-level artists while also making buying easier for the art lover. In the last 1.5 years, colourentice.com has managed to build that trust among the art fraternity and today we have nearly 360 artists on board with over 1,200 works for sale on our website,” says Gowd.
With its headquarters in Mumbai, the virtual art gallery organises art shows in cities across India like Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and Raipur. With each city they try and ensure that at least 30 per cent of the works in the shows are by local artists. “Also we always ensure that we display works by Basanth Sahu, an artist who is completely paralysed and can only move his shoulders. While with each show we change the artists being showcased, Basanth is a constant,” explains Gowd.
This is the first time the show is being organised in the city and the exhibition showcases a range of paintings by artists like Laxman Aeley, Fawad Tamkanat, Nagesh Goud, Sachin Jaltare, Dhiren Sasmal, Rajib Suroy and Sadu Aliyor among others. Ranging from all shapes and sizes, the paintings are as diverse and distinct as the artists. For instance, if Fawad presents his signature style of painting Hyderabadi life while Laxman Aeley showcases his work titled ‘story of the eye’. There is something for every kind of art lover at this exhibition with abstracts, semi-abstracts, landscapes and portraits as well in a range of media like acrylic on canvas, ink and mixed media.
While the virtual art gallery also has sculptures in its collection, currently there are only paintings on display. “Transport and space constraints are a factor for this,” says Gowd. The exhibition is view at Taj Deccan till March 17.
