Dreams in colours

Works by Trigulla Murali, Priti Samyukta and Visweshwara Rao. Photo: Special Arrangement

Three artists revisit the themes they painted ten years ago in an exhibition at Shrishti Art Gallery

Three art students hold an exhibition in a restaurant in 2001 in Hyderabad and the exhibition was titled ‘Dreams and Vegetables’, a name given by their lecturer Professor Alex Mathew. A decade later, the friends are back and revisit the themes they painted ten years ago and retain the title ‘Dreams and Vegetables.’

Preeti Samyukta and her self-portative works, Trigulla Murali’s fascination for automobiles and Visweswara Rao’s dream sequence have a different play of colours. “I know myself better. It is better to deal with yourself,” says Preeti Samyukta pointing towards a painting which sparkles with the face of a girl and monkeys! Preeti gets inspired from designs – it could be from the pillow covers or the kalamkari

dupattas . But why monkeys? “I have always liked animals with fur. My current favourite is a monkey,” she says. Her monkey fascination began when she saw baby monkeys playing on the terrace of her neighbour’s house in Tarnaka. In another work, it is the face of a girl with a pipe in her mouth. Interestingly, the pipe does not emanate smoke, but monkeys come out of it!

Trigulla Murali’s love for automobiles dates back to his teenage years. The exhibits are not exactly miniatures but he has taken a few techniques and incorporated them. Peppered with vibrant hues, the tagline of his works is: ‘What happens if people living in the 18th century get access to these modern machines?’ The images are symbolic in nature. There are pictures of a bike on a trolley with ships in the background ( to symbolise that the bikes are being imported by the royalty), a sadhu doing the puja and the bike’s owner in his traditional costume standing next to it, a bike being protected by a soldier and lion and rifles and spears fixed on a bike.

A pillow, picture of a girl with closed eyes and her head resting on a pillow are few of the works by Visweswara Rao. In one image, the girl has her eyes closed and there is a book in focus to show that she has she has fallen asleep while reading the book. The exhibition being held at Shrishti Art Gallery is on till October 12.