The walls of the long sidewalk that overlook Le Café at Novotel is adorned with images bright and textured. Five artists — Lona Logan, Deepa Nath, Sayyad Shaiek, Maruthi Paila and Bithi Debgupta — exhibit some of their recent works, displaying a concoction of techniques and themes, curated by Lona Logan.
Lona is an Australian who made Hyderabad her home. She has travelled across the country, looking at people and monuments through her photographic eye. In an earlier series displayed as part of an exhibition at TEA (Twin cities Expatriates Association), she displayed snapshots of India’s work force. Here, she focuses on monuments in Hyderabad, Agra and Delhi. The images show us intricate architecture of
Qala-i-kuhna masjid in Delhi and the Paigah tombs in Hyderabad before focusing on a lone Mughal lady in Agra. The image of the Lakshmi temple in Pondicherry takes a slightly abstract route in comparison with the rest of the images. Her image shows a tremendous control of depth she captures through the lens in the image of the jharoka at Humayun tombs. Lona’s images are reproduced on museum etching paper, giving them a unique tonal quality and bringing out the richness in colours, be it a faded pink or turquoise blue.
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Bithi Debgupta, trained in Bengal style of art from Shantiniketan, gives us her impression of rural folks and those who live in the fringes of the urban landscape. We see a Banjara couple, a lone woman with a child and the busy scene in Mumbai where fisherwomen sell their catch. A painting titled ‘procession’, veers away from the crowd to draw attention on a few women on the sidelines. There’s also a representation of election campaigning and plethora of promises being made in the ‘vote for me’ painting. Characterised by a strong focus on emotions and simple outlines, Bithi’s paintings connect the Bengal school of art to the contemporary.
City-based artist Sayyad Shaiek displays images from his previous series ‘Nocturnal City’ giving viewers a bird’s eye view of a city swathed in the darkness of night. Deepa Nath draws from her older series Raasa and contrasts them with recent works of black, white and red hues in both paper and ink and acrylic. She uses straight, assured lines to reflect the couple in love.
A departure from the other artists who dabble with the figurative, Maruthi Paila specialises in abstracts. ‘Journey through colours’ is an example of how he tries to arrive at a harmonious composition with his mosaic-like criss cross to create a visual imagery.
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What : Group show, colours of Novotel
Where : Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre, Madhapur
When : Till September 30