What remains with the viewer after walking through works by the six artists from the exhibition titled Colour Theory , is sheer vibrancy. The six artists — Anand Panchal, Sanju Jain, B.V. Nalakar, Srinath, Praveen Kumar and Dhan Prasad — present a range of styles from abstract to figurative and landscape, each energizing in its own way.
Praveen Kumar paints cityscapes, reducing the city to its architecture and further abstracting the buildings to rough shapes in vivid colour palettes. “Hailing from a small town in South Kanara and resettling in a big city like Bengaluru has had its impact on me and my work. Since I arrived I have been fascinated with the city and its buildings – both public and residential. I have also seen the city changing over the years, new buildings keep cropping up almost every day. At the same time, old buildings are razed to the ground to make place for new ones,” explains Praveen.
“Even in my dreams I have seen this city stretching further and further. In many of my paintings, I have shown buildings that are both stately as well as dilapidated. I have painted them in colour and in black and white. In my works, there are no human beings – just buildings and structures. I try to bring the character of the city through these structures.”
Srinath seems to be fascinated by what appears to be islands composed of surrealistic natural forms — hills with lava-like light, eerie cement-hued water, haunted branches and glowing flora. The paintings sometimes appear like X-rays. Both Dhan Prasad and Anand Panchal work with the larger-than-life figure of the Indian man and woman, dressed in bright colours with a large bindi or tilak painted on each of their foreheads. Their work is slightly evocative of the artist T. Vaikuntam’s style. Dhan paints women and men in their everyday, if slightly retrospective, ‘avtars’. Women, for instance, are painted with folded and ribboned braids and parrots and henna-ed hands, seemingly in conversation.
Anand’s figures are slightly more theatrical, in the voluptuousness of their forms, and abstract, more notable in the background. Sanju’s series of paintings are boldly abstract with its washes of bright colours in earthy washes that bring out the graphic texture of handmade paper. She embosses her canvas with swirls, sometimes shapes in rich colour, often placing them in the centre of the frame.
Nalakar, who describes his work as a combination of “realism and impressionism”, sets out to capture the architectural heritage of India, with its forts and palaces. In this series, he paints Rajashtani, Rajput buildings milling with the natives of the region in their bright attire. He does not focus on the sculptural detail, rather he pays attention to the form of the building itself and the way light and shadow play out on its form. “I have so far studied the Mughal, Indo-Afghani and Indo-Saracenic architecture through my paintings. These buildings may not last another century, so my objective is to preserve them through art,” says Nalakar.
“Colour Theory” will be on view until January 16 at Crimson, The Hatworks Boulevard, 32, Cunningham Road. Call 65379223 or 22342634.
