BENGALURU : Foot tapping music, beautiful homes, historical buildings, vintage cars, lush gardens... all set amidst the spirit of new Bengaluru. A playful rendition of the people, places and things synonymous with the erstwhile ‘pensioners’ paradise’ finds a place in an upcoming art exhibition. Titled Unwind Rewind, it will comprise the sights, sounds and aromas of the city visualised by Shilpa Rao and Spoorthy Murali.
“The show is by two artist friends who were willing to put together their thoughts and share their views on the concept that I had put forward. Spoorthy was already doing a series on old cottages and vintage cars of an era gone by in Bangalore during the Raj Days and it was easy to go ahead with the concept.
Shilpa was also painting still life subjects about music and the spirit of Bengaluru and they were very enthusiastic as I had suggested they use materials they are used to in their practice,” says Shirley Mathew, art consultant, MKF Museum of Art. The show is a collection of 23 paintings with watercolours, charcoals, acrylics and oils on paper and canvas.
Being old school, Mathew is of the view that it is more satisfying for an art lover to actually be in front of a painting. She was keen to curate a show at least by this year end. “It was while chatting with Shilpa and Spoorthy during an art talk conducted post lockdown, that I realised that they shared my sentiments. So then they got down to work with whatever materials they had due to lack of regular supplies,” she says.
Mathew points out that it is not easy for a woman artist during these challenging times, to run the household and yet find time to create. “As an artist myself, the lockdown was difficult as I could not work from my studio which is a 10-minute walk away and I had to manage with organic medium in the house. With many professionals losing their jobs, there are very few artists who could find buyers and yet a true artist has to continue painting regardless of the outcome in terms of earning,” she says.
The show will be held from Nov. 28 to Dec. 13 at MKF Museum of Art, Lavelle Road