Art from state hinterland

The five day show by this ‘Golden Group’ in Prasad Art Gallery will conclude on February 26

Artists always love coastal city because of its richness with art lovers. Many art exhibitions which are being organised in the city in recent days prove the point. Now Mangalore is witnessing another art exhibition by four young talents, all alumni of Gulbarga MMK College of Visual Art. The five day show by this ‘Golden Group’ in Prasad Art Gallery will conclude on February 26.

The members of ‘Golden Group’- Arti M Kulkarni, Vikram J Vanti, Rajkumar S Kumar and Sangamesh already have impressive profiles.

Golden girl Arti

Hospet girl Arti, first rank holder in Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from MMK College of Visual Arts and also first rank holder in Masters (MVA), received a sum of Rs 1.20 lakh of scholarship from the Central government.

Arti likes creative painting as well as traditional sketches. She sketched the delicate lines of Ilakal sarees and one can find Gullegudda style in her art works.  “In contemporary art, I paint trains, cars, toys and such kind of things to convey my thought,” she said.

Speaking to City Herald, Arti, who is just married and lives in Hyderabad said that she likes oil painting both on paper and canvas. She has already organised shows of her paintings at Kochi in 2009 and other group shows at Chennai, Bangalore, Badami and Bombay. “I like traditional and also miniature. V G Andani is my favourite artist,” she added.

Multi-talented Vikram

Vikram J Vanti of Gulbarga sketches his thoughts and calls it ‘incredible work’. He uses canvas and atria lit colour for his paintings. “I had a dream to become an artist and I am fortunate to get family support,” says Vikram who likes to sketch on nature than anything else.

A graphic designer in Bangalore by profession, Vikram is a big fan of great Picasso. He also likes S N Pandit and his teacher at Gulbarga MMK College Basavraj L Jana.

Talent from Bidar

Sangamesh S Chillshetty from Hallikhed (K) of Bidar district is a professional acrylic artist. Sangamesh lives in Mumbai and has already organised five shows in the business capital and five exhibitions at Bangalore Chitra Kala Parishat. 

“I had conducted exhibitions of my paintings in Udupi four times, but I am here in Mangalore for the first time. I have plans to open a studio here though I have one in Mumbai,” he said.

Sangamesh who has sketched ‘Dream’, ‘Couples’ and many other acrylic on canvas says that, M F Hussein is his favourite artist.

‘Raj’ of talents

Rajkumar S Kumar of Gulbarga is also a professional artist and has a studio in Gulbarga. He exhibited his art works in many places including Bangalore Chitra Kala Parishat, Gulbarga Kannada Bhavan and Art Gallery.

A recipient of ‘Karnataka Rajyothsava’ award, Rajkumar is an actor too and is a member of ‘Kamadhenu’ drama group of Gulbarga.

Mural work (interior design) is another skill of Rajkumar. He has mastered the skills of fibre casting, sand casting, prevail and other types of mural work.

V G Andani and Shashikanth Masalkar are his favourite artists.

As many as 35 sketches of these artists, a mixture of tradition and modernity, are on display.

They reflect the minds which are trying for something new. The exhibition is open between 9.30 am and 7 pm.