It was an evening for art lovers to come together for a cause. The exhibition of paintings organised by FORHD (Foundation for Restoring Human Dignity) at Welcom Art Gallery last week, was inaugurated by Governor Rameshwar Thakoor.
Managing Trustee of FORHD, L Revannasiddaiah, who set up this NGO, had ensured a good collection in a range of mediums and themes. He spoke to Metrolife on the resources needed to rehabilitate juvenile delinquents, wives of criminals, and deserving prisoners, for whose welfare the foundation works. The art exhibition, an annual event, is conducted to generate funds towards several causes.
Cityscapes, landscapes, abstracts and portraiture, admix portrayal of mythological and religious themes, collage and sculptures, the vibrancy of colours, light and shade, aesthetic, emotive works — it was an eclectic collection.
The villagescapes in red and ochre by Gurudas Shenoy drew much admiration, as did Sowmya Manjunath’s ‘Colours of Monsoon’. In Ramagiri Patil’s “Devotee” the expressions, body language, and vibrant hues, appealed to many guests. A house with a red roof and hues of blues merging in the background was Basvasprabhu’s acrylic on Mount Board. It certainly had an air of activity.
Pratibha Mulani’s ‘Krishna’ in black with a gold crown and flute, the serenity in the Buddhas by Doddamani, the Krishna on palm leaf by Usha Agarwal, Nagpare’s embellished ‘Krishna’ in natural gold pigment were some of the other eye-catchers.
The list of artists was long — S G Vasudev, Milind Nayak, Shankar Kahandale , G Subramanian, JMS Mani, Basuki, Patil, M N Murthy, Jasu Rawal, Manu Chakravarthy, Sivananda, Warsha Lath, Vinoda Revannasiddaiah, Ramesh Rao, Sunitha Pavan, Kamakar Dayanand, Gopal Adivrekar, among others contributed to the event.
Among the guests, Suma Sudhindra, Suresh and Sudha Hiremath, Aarti and Suresh Sud, Ruby and Imtiaz, Rekha Hande and others were seen admiring the works which covered contemporary themes and displayed the artists’ disciplines and signature styles. On exhibit till September 29 at Welcom Art Gallery, ITC Windsor Bengaluru.
Rhythms on paper
Tangerine Art Space, previewed a group show of 18 artists at the Alliance Francaise. The artists had some common factors — they are graduates from JJ School of Art, Mumbai or MS University, Baroda, with most of the having participated in exhibitions abroad and even won awards.
The exhibition focused on paintings on paper, which extends a choice of different natural textures to enhance the overview.
T V Santosh chose to display pain and despair in his monochrome works, of anguish of people pleading for a peaceful society. Yeshwant Deshmukh graduated in sculpture from Shantiniketan. His work had a white matka with a black tap. Among the other abstracts were works by Zakkir Hussain and Riyas Komu from Kerala, who critique the notion of consumerism that manipulate our energies.
Piyali Ghosh, a BVA College graduate in draftsmanship, told Metrolife that she draws inspiration from folklore and imagines herself living as an animal. Humans are social animals, but animals have more character and direct approaches to obtaining what they want. “My work is a pun on humans,” she said.
Sanjeev Sonpimpre from Maharashtra had a collage titled Escape/Escalator with Indian Ink on acid free paper, while Pooja Iranna focused on abstracts.
Pradeep Mishra from the JJ School, works in charcoal pastel. Among the other artists, Nikhileshwar Baruah and Mithun Sen, who did his PG from Glasgow School of Art, has mixed media on paper. Nikita Parekh too had works in charcoal and ink.
Jaganath Panda, MA from the Royal College of Art, London, dwelt upon social issues. Rathin Kanji, spoke about the merits and demerits of urbanisation, global warming, political and social issues that influence his work, which he normally does in acrylic. B Kamath from Mangalore qualified from the School of Art and design, University of Wales. His collage on glass was undoubtedly among the best exhibits.
On till September 26 at Kumar Paradise, Basaavangudi. For details call: 98862-18518.
