Art impressions on canvas

Choosing young artists from all over India and recognising their talents through awards is important for the simple reason that they gain recognition and encouragement on a wider platform that pushes them to achieve more,” says H K Kejriwal, art lover and promoter, who has donated many of his paintings, sculptures and works of art to public galleries.

He was speaking during the presentation of the Young Artists Award 2008 to four young artists from Shantiniketan, Baroda, Kerala and Bangalore, organised by Mahua-The Art Gallery, in collaboration with the H K Kejriwal Foundation.

“We instituted this award 20 years ago and each year, four young artists from the North, South, East and West zones of India, are given a grant of Rs 25,000 each to pursue their creative dreams. The winners are chosen by an impartial jury, comprising art historians and artists. This year, we had an amazing number of over 350 entries from artists all over India. It was a difficult choice but ultimately four artists in different categories won. Over the years, the quality of work, colour compositions and subject matter has improved exponentially with so much talent materialising from all parts of India,” he added.

Artists Ela Chandrashekar and Yusuf Arakkal felicitated the four winners in the presence of several art lovers and well-known artists from the City. Ratheesh Vincent from Kerala and Shivananda Basavanthappa won awards for their respective paintings and Pradip Kumar Patra and Bhaskar Vadla for their sculptures and etchings.

Ratheesh graduated from the College of Fine Arts, University of Kerala and infuses his work with a global perspective and a social and political fusion of undercurrents.
Shivananda Basavanthappa from Chitrakala Parishat talks through his work on the hypocrisy and crass commercialisation of modern life and the daily obsession of acquiring material things.

Pradip Kumar Patra did his MFA in sculpture, from Shantiniketan. He experiments with fibreglass, wood and other textured materials to create his sculptures in vibrant colours. His piece of a nude male figure playing with a train won him the award.

Bhaskar Vadla from Baroda focuses on the dynamics of mechanisation in rural and urban environments and is specially inspired by cranes and other huge mechanical devices that are visible in and around our metros with the ongoing mega construction projects.

“In spite of the economic slowdown, there are people buying art and today, we have sold a fair number of pieces which is very encouraging for the artists. If only well-established artists would donate some of their work to public art galleries, then average people would have access to paintings which otherwise remain the preserve of private collectors,” said Kejriwal in conclusion.