The cashew tree is teeming with langurs: some snack on the fruit, others stride up and down the branches, a couple nestle in a fork in the tree while a mother nursing her little one is perched in one corner. There is another with parrots, intense green feathers stark against the dull brown bark behind their bodies. Jackfruits sprout off a tree, their green hexagonal scales hiding the soft ripeness within while in another corner is a lotus pond with multi-hued flowers and waxy green leaves, sheltering cyan-shaded kingfishers. Kerala-based artist Roy K John’s large canvasses are a paean to Nature, a celebration of her colours, textures and vitality. “Man has an intimate relationship with Nature,” says John, a trained mural artist who brings the same intricacy and photorealism into his work on canvas.
John, who is part of a group art show titled Luminous Enigmas that will be showcased at Chennai’s Gallery Veda till May 28, shares space with five other artists, all with vastly different styles and aesthetic approaches. “I wanted to bring in a variety of artwork this summer,” says curator Preeti Garg of Gallery Veda, adding that the only thing that binds the six artists together is that they are, “evolving in their same, unique style.”
Take artist Bharti Singh’s work that is all about the mythical, the esoteric. From a deep-blue Krishna to a gold-shot Aswatha tree, there is a sense of other-worldness, a quasi-magicality to her fluid lines. There is fluidity in Devidas Dharmadhikari’s strings of horses, too: thick, vivid strokes highlighting the sinew, and muscle and flesh of the majestic animals. “My paintings are trying to capture the movement of the horse through bold strokes and vibrant colours showing for its strength, power, beauty and force,” writes the artist, while Chennai-based artist Upasana Asrani’s layered abstracts are “a reflection of an amazing journey of self-discovery. The colours, interwoven with various textures, convey the many facets of these myriad experiences.”
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Dusk falls on the ancient city of Varanasi, turning its domed buildings and crowded ghats a deep shade of vermilion while its people recede into long shadows and dark silhouettes (Somnath Bothe, Evening in Banaras). Then there is his Golden Banaras, which as the name suggests, represents the city in tawny shades of gold; and Monsoon Ride that depicts a city bathed in blue, a yellow bus and orange rooftops cutting through the cyan haze. “My paintings are colourful, nostalgic at times, and sheer conversational pieces,” writes the artist in his statement, adding that his colour themes are often, “modern and flashy but this is intentional, to remind us the importance of historical places.”
History segues into the present with Praveen Kumar’s semi-abstract versions of multiple cityscapes, jewel tones and sudden splashes of colour, an evocative ode to urban spaces. “Hailing from a small town and resettling in a big city like Bangalore has had its effect on me and my work,” says Kumar, who admits to being fascinated by its tall buildings and changing topography. “For me the city is a metaphor of human condition. It has its own sighs, noise, chaos and chatter. But its poetry lies in the silence of its secret pathways, quiet thoroughfares and connecting bridges. As I paint the sparkling reflections and uncertain glories, I see a bit of my own self on canvas,” he says.