Longing for the world outside

Bengaluru-based artist Gurudas Shenoy’s recent works capture the sense of yearning and anxiety we all felt at the height of the pandemic.

Bengaluru-based artist Gurudas Shenoy is showing his recent works in a solo exhibition after a hiatus of almost three years. This entire body of work was created during the two years or 730 (also the title of the show) days of the pandemic. It brings together several of his series, which he began working on while confined to his studio, longing for the world outside. The large suite of works with 36 pieces, expresses his passion and desire for travel, historic sites, ancient monuments, architectural marvels and stunning landscapes.

According to Shenoy, “It was the first time that I was confined to my home-cum-studio for such a long time. But even though I could not travel, in a way I embraced the calmness. This time gave me the opportunity to go deeper into my work. I became bolder, started using more layers, and more abstraction.”

As always, all the paintings reflect his passion and flair for colours — a colour palette which has intensified further from the deepest blues to sunshine yellows and sunset reds. Shenoy’s landscapes and cityscapes are semi-representational with bold demarcations alluding to skyscrapers, the horizon and architectural features, and therefore while these are inspired by historic buildings and sites and emerge from his travel experiences, the visuals are transformed and recreated through a lens of memoir and abstraction.

In Confined Stories, there is an interesting set of small works that portray a series of common household objects, which have been represented as still life. These are refreshingly different from his usual works and have been rendered exquisitely. In contrast, one of the paintings from this series is a large work 5 x 9.5 feet in oil, which juxtaposes objects around the home against elements from nature and architecture of the exterior world — the world that lay outside our homes and just beyond our reach during the pandemic. The objects in the foreground overlap against the abstracted forms of the domain outside, creating an interesting collage of how both these spheres collide and merge and disperse. It captures a sense of yearning, anxiety and optimism that a majority of people faced during the last two years and can relate to.

Spiritual Odyssey, yet another series, is inspired by Shenoy’s travels to the Himalayas, and pilgrimage sites, which have had a lasting impact on him. The Europe Studio is a continuation of the series which he began as an ode to the historic buildings of Prague, Amsterdam, Paris, and other European cities, and is based on his previous travels. Similarly, there is a continuation of the Hampi series, the UNESCO World Heritage site, which represents its beauty, splendour and significance remarkably.

The exhibition continues online at the gallery Artisera’s website till June 30.

The author is a Bengaluru-based art consultant, curator and writer. She blogs at Art Scene India and can be reached at [e-mail]

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