BENGALURU: Despite painting for more than 30 years, Vinitha Anand has no airs about her work. One could almost say a love for art runs in her blood, since the Thiruvananthapuram- born artist is the great-granddaughter of artist Mangala Bai Thampuratti and sister of legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma. Currently, Anand is a part of a group of eight artists – who have all been mentored and guided by artist A V Ilango at different times – who are displaying their work at Chitrakala Parishat, in an ongoing exhibition till October 17.
Born in 1964, Anand has been into art since her school days. But it wasn’t until after marriage that she took her love for it seriously. “I got married at the age of 20. Post my husband’s encouragement, I started taking art more seriously,” she said. The student of Ilango said her mentor’s way of understanding the subtlety in art is what drove her towards exploring the art form.
“Two years ago, I got to attend an art retreat conducted by Ilango in Yercaud. He was talking about the creative part of art and using the philosophy that runs your life to create something,” recalled Anand, adding that the classes and his perspective were an eyeopener for his students. Anand’s 12 paintings on display have mostly been inspired by music.
“They depict the fluidity of music. The strokes try to capture the rhythm in music,” she explained. Ilango’s paintings has been inspirational to many artists, including Kanthimathy V, who is the brain behind this exhibition. She will also display some of her work and said most of it has been influenced from her life experience. “The exhibition is a tribute to our mentor, whose main motto in life has been to impart the knowledge that he has,” Kanthimathy added.