Many colours of imagination

A group exhibition of paintings is on at the newly-opened Bindhi Art Gallery

Art's sake Bindhi Rajagopal at her gallery.

The national painting exhibition that is on at the Bindhi Art Gallery, behind the Fine Arts Hall, on till December 31, pays tribute to the old and the new and is a celebration of colours and human imagination.

Maiden exhibition

The gallery is showcasing its first exhibition post its inauguration on December 8. “This is my first gallery and the first show at this gallery,” says Bindhi Rajagopal, owner (and teacher at the Gregorian Public School), whose work has also been featured among 15 other artists' from across the country, “The idea of converting part of my house into a gallery came from the realisation that there are not many galleries in Kochi promoting artists and art students. I have a space in the centre of the city and I thought that a gallery of this sort would help upcoming artists - others like me - and provide them with a chance to show their work.”

The exhibition features paintings of artists both well-known and otherwise. While many like C.N. Karunakaran, Poojapura Suku, Sidharthan K., T. Kaladharan, Surendran P.K., Saju Ayyampilly, Hochimin and Bindhi are based in Kerala, Anil Bihari is from Patna, J.M.S. Mani and Purushotham Adve from Karnataka, Priti Samyukta from Hyderabad, Razia Tony and Subra (Subramanyan) are Chennai-based, Bobby is from Manipur and Siraj Saxena from New Delhi.

Bindhi Rajagopal has 2 works in acrylic on display, both drawing inspiration from astrology. Taurus pays tribute to the star sign and depicts a fierce bull in Indianised style. The second ‘Ring of Constellations' secured an Honourable Mention by the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi this year. C.N. Karunakaran's oil on canvas ‘Tribal Witches' with its muted but rich shades is compelling and the technique is reminiscent of ‘kalamezhuthu'. J.M.S. Mani, a well-known painter from Karnataka has on show two oil paintings and a charcoal etching. The oils are portraits of a tribal man and woman and rich in its rendering. Anil Bihari's paintings are colourful and detailed. Rajesh Paravoor's oil of an old maarar which won him the Sankara Menon Gold Medal is also on display.

“I've tried to include in the show works of artists who have been in the field for many years and those who are ‘new' by comparison. The exhibition is an attempt to record the changes that have come about over time,” adds Bindhi who in spite of being artist for over 20 years considers herself a ‘new' artist.

There's much to see and even more to savour at the gallery right now.