Hyderabad’s art scene has grown considerably and bringing the best under one roof is the ongoing art exhibition, ‘Flavours of Hyderabad’. Featuring 23 artists — from senior exponents like Vaikuntam to more contemporary artists like Ganesh Pasupuleti and Ramakrishna — the exhibition has on display paintings on canvas, wood, a mask and sculptures.
While most deal with the rustic and some with mythology, others have ventured into the ambiguous realm that contemporary art affords, as is seen in paintings like Man and Elephant by Nataraj Saraf and Swathi Rajadhyax’s Joker.
Sculptors Ramakrishna, M Sreenu, Srinivas Rao and A Kiran Kumar’s work portray a complete contrast to the canvas with Ramakrishna’s ballet dancers series, M Sreenu’s Hanuman riding a cycle and Srinivas Rao’s depiction of a half-bull half-cheetah dressed as a woman with sunglasses.
On the rustic side of things, Mohammed Osman’s vibrantly decorated Nandi set against a bright pink background might remind you of Gulaboo from Matru ki Bijilee ka Mandola, but echoes further back to the agrarian lifestyle we’ve developed from. Dressed like the cow that travels with the Hari Katha narrator, it is a perfect confluence of Indian mythology and culture.
Laxman Aelay’s portrait of a back of a woman from her neck upwards shows a the thali flung backwards with little trinkets attached to it - safety pins and a key — reminding one of their grandmother’s time. The multiple piercings on her ear lobe will also remind you that what college kids consider fashionable today, is really fashion going back to its roots.
Thota Vaikuntam’s paintings are a different matter though. A set of three adorn the walls at the exhibition showing a Telangana man, a Telangana woman and Radha-Krishna. Painted in vibrant colours, it makes for an interesting piece of art with geometrical precision creating the soft curves of the face, nose, ears and fingers. Similarly, Bairu Raghuram’s untitled oil on canvas uses hues of the same colour to create the illusion of sharp lines and curves.
D Jayaprakash’s piece — Couple — is done in his trademark style of fine lines and precise sketch marks creating a clean and neat depiction of a lion and lioness in embrace.
Ganesh Pasupuleti’s mixed media on paper are also excellent works of precision and a steady hand as he finely sketches in the rooster - a commonly occurring theme — against a backdrop of sunflowers and a house coloured in water colours.
Surya Prakash joins the Hyderabad club with his typical subject of landscape done in acrylic while Ramesh Gorjala and Rajeswara Rao also contribute in their respective styles; the former drawing an intricate mythological story of the various Vishnu avatars, filling in the body of his work with minute pictorials while those familiar Rajeswara’s works will recognise the woman in the portrait in the latter from his previous art.
Amidst the village belle and the Hindu references, Anjaneyulu G’s work stands out like a sore thumb. With two works constituting the 20-odd collection of art, his painting of a Remy Martin cognac bottle and metal basket used to carry flowers and other pooja-related materials display an imagination and a artistic perfection that can bring the still to life. Both items painted lying horizontally, the artist excellently and very realistically captures the play of shadows across the object.
Other artists to look out for in the Flavours of Hyderabad include Chippa Sudhakar, Jagdish Chintala, Sachin Jaltare, Saraswathi L, Sisir Sahana, Kiran Kumar V and Sunil M.
The art exhibition is being hosted by the Kalakriti Art Gallery in Banjara Hills and will remain on display till February 14.