City-based artist Santhosh Deepak Andrade has been adjudged the second winner at the third All India Art Competition and Exhibition 2021 organised by Chitramayee State Gallery of Art, Government of Telangana, Hyderabad.
He won the award for his 48”x60” acrylic on canvas painting titled, ‘Perceptions, Horizons and Beyond’. The prize also includes a certificate, trophy and a cash award of Rs. 25,000.
The entry for the competition was submitted in March 2021. But due to the second wave of the pandemic, 34 prize winners in different categories were finalised only on January 18, 2022. The awards ceremony was also cancelled.
All prize-winning entries and 150 shortlisted paintings have been put up on display at the State Gallery of Art, Hyderabad, from January 25 to February 3. Santhosh Andrade was one of the two winners in second place, the other winner of the same category being Jagjeet Kumar Raj of Uttar Pradesh.
In the concept note for his prize-winning entry, Santhosh Andrade explains the theme of his work as follows: “Beyond boundaries, broken walls and taught prejudices lie human’s innate capacity to co-exist and flourish – captured in the various perspectives of this painting. The first two layers of the broken moss-covered wall and the peeling plaster of the second wall indicates the invisible constructs and religious biases we build around our true selves which chips away into the very core of our being. Beyond the learnt is the arched window which gives us a glimpse into a beautiful life that can be. The imagery is inspired by my childhood memories of my hometown Mangaluru.”
Santhosh Andrade is a winner of many awards, including the 36th Karnataka Lalithakala Academy Award (2007), Southern Region Camel Art Foundation Award (2006 & 2008) and the 117th All India ‘The Best Indian Traditional Composition Award’ of Bombay Art Society, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai (2009).
In 2020, he was the first winner in the professional category in ‘ORA 2020’, organized by Mojarto (a venture of NDTV) carrying a cash prize of Rs 3 Lakh.