Date:13/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2006/01/13/stories/2006011301970300.htm

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Connecting to the contemporary

B. PADMA REDDY

The three veteran artists exhibited a flair that is natural and contemporary, yet very distinct.

COLOUR WORLD: The paintings on display at the expo.

In the city of Hyderabad, art has always had a significant presence. The city has been a hub of activity for decades encouraging migrants from all parts of Andhra Pradesh to converge here. However, the art scene has seen several ups and downs. The high point being several artists of the city — not succumbing to the common necessities of living — continued to involve unhampered, helping Hyderabad to stay connected with the contemporary art field. Today, the art scene is on a high. Veteran artists M. Jayanth, V.V. Swamy and B. Shanmukha Chari exhibited their works at the Lakshana Art Gallery Hyderabad recently. Engaged with their jobs in Doordarshan, BHEL and Defense Labs respectively for long the trio submit to their zeal, each bringing forth a collection of works distinctly different from one another.

Relying on his trained eye at the Film and Television institute Pune, his stint as a producer at the Doordarshan Kendra, Hyderabad and also as an alumini of the School of art JNTU and the Faculty of Fine arts Baroda, Jayanth shows immense maturity in dealing with colour retaining its virgin freshness, his multi-hued canvas submerges in dollops of colour and fluid efficient strokes applied with pleasurable surety. Works like Shrine on the Shikhara and Barkha are festooned with freshness and simple appeal.

V.V. Swamy indulges himself in an array of styles themes and mediums. His interest flits from the traditional Radha Madhava and Ganapathis to day-to-day routines of the Banjaras and the roadside activity to horses in action. Swamy works with a hither to caution on each of his works yet discards it to create a variation from work to work. His working ways are diverse.

Where as B. Shanmukha Chari has evolved a language exemplifying his usage of material and subject. Represented are his ideas - symbolically through his choice of idioms that illustrate the subject. Elements like birds, animals and people interwoven with each other form the basis of his works portraying a complex pattern of thoughts, in an almost sombre palette sometimes surrealistic at times not, concerning music, environment or the contemporary world in general.