“My mother loved preserving beautiful things and was interested in handicrafts,” says Vamana Shenoy, a self- taught artist. “This is what inspired me in taking up art as a hobby.”
The theme of the exhibition, being held at the Durbar Hall, is ‘Roots’. “It is about my roots, and our roots as a nation and a society,” he says.
The exhibition also contains some of his early works in watercolour. “They convey messages of communal harmony, environmentalism, and equality,” says Vamana. “For example, the painting titled ‘Community Living’ shows the need for responsibility in community life.”
Other noteworthy paintings are ‘Renaissance’, which is an allegory for caution in social relations, ‘Relocation’, in which he proposes transplanting of trees as an alternative to deforestation, and ‘Equality’, which is about how religious identity is insignificant next to God and Nature.
“Most paintings have multiple interpretations,” he says. One of the canvases shows a simple outline of the India Gate and the tricolour done in white on a crimson background. Shenoy says that our independence is the result of so many sacrifices but the memorial is inconsequential as compared to those sacrifices.
Vamana is a chartered accountant by profession and the Director of Desai Homes. Painting is his hobby and this is his first exhibition. When asked about his motivation, Vamana says, “It is not about the money that comes from selling the work. If they can inspire some change in people’s lives, then it is worth it.” Vamana is planning to donate all the income to the Kerala Arthritis and Rheumatism Society for conducting medical camps in rural areas.
The exhibition also contains photographs by V K Shenoy, who is Vamana’s mother’s uncle and is a well-known photographer. The black and white photographs are chronicles of an India of five decades ago. Many of these are of various places in Mumbai, then called Bombay. “These photos are the result of planning and perfect timing,” Shenoy. “If there was a delay of a single second, the photographic balance would have been lost.”
Some of them were taken in Cherthala, Shenoy’s village. Showing a portrait of his niece, he says, “This photo was taken in natural lighting. The sunlight creates an interesting effect.”
Showing some technically enhanced photographs, Shenoy says, “In those days, there was no Photoshop software. We had to do all the mixing and manipulating manually, at the time of printing. Everything was done by the photographer himself.”
Apart from photography, Shenoy has also done pixel paintings, which look like they are made of blocks of colour, instead of lines and shapes. “If you look at them from a distance of a few feet, the images becomes clear,” he says. The show will continue till June 19.