‘Raindrop Songs’ at Jehangir!

Five artists from Hyderabad present their paintings in a group art exhibition titled ‘Songs of the Falling Raindrops’ at Jehangir Art Gallery at Mumbai. This exhibition provides an opportunity to immerse oneself deeply into the refreshing beauty of the art works inspired by nature and the eternal spiritual quest of the human condition.

Rain makes life sprout in the farmlands, while the beauty of raindrops inspires artists to contemplate and create art. Five artists from Hyderabad are presenting their paintings in a group art exhibition titled ‘Songs of the Falling Raindrops’ at Jehangir Art Gallery at Mumbai. These artists namely Kumaraswamy, Vittal Muppidy, Rajkumar Bavandlapelli, Srinivasa Ram Makineedi and Moshe Dayan Bhupathi investigate the depths of beauty of nature as well as delve deep into the spiritually uplifting aspects of it. Falling raindrops create an apparent chaos yet they construct a harmonious symphony if one gives enough time and attention. Each of the five artists follows their own path and style yet they too, come together while presenting their art.

Kumaraswamy, a graduate in Fine Art, uses stylized human figures, animals, birds, and trees to create captivating, almost hypnotic visual experiences on canvas. The ideas in his work revolve around the beauty of nature and its relationship with the surroundings. His simple yet vibrant layering of motifs creates a sense of depth and floatation that are a visual delight.

Vittal Muppidy, a graduate in Fine Art specializes in abstract landscape paintings. He has received various awards in art competitions at national and state level in Andhra Pradesh. Childhood memories from his native village form his inspiration. The earthy colours from the ancestral farmland and its surroundings majorly influence the colour scheme in his large sized canvases. The paintings allow the viewers to experience the sense of vastness, immense depth as well as tranquility, like an actual experience of nature’s rugged forms.

Rajkumar Bavandlapelli, a postgraduate in Fine Art, creates exquisitely detailed ink sketches inspired by nature and surroundings. Through these depictions, he operates at two levels – firstly, he notes the interactions of humans with nature, wherein issues like environmental pollution due to human actions get noticed. At this level, the approach is direct and scientific. While the second level is much deeper wherein, he ponders over the forms and the formlessness. This gets interesting as he begins in extreme realism and deep dives into abstraction. This level is contemplative. Rajkumar explains that with every stroke of pen, he strives to bridge the gap between art and science. His dream as an artist is visually illustrating the perceptual conflict between natural and non-natural elements.

Sreenivasa Ram Makineedi, an engineer by education, 3D artist by profession is a self-taught artist. He has had several exhibitions and won two awards in national level exhibitions. He incessantly explores and experiments with various media and styles. The intricate relations between nature and the human psyche inspires his art. Feminine form is a mainstay in his works, which he keeps exploring and improvising upon. The series presented in this show depicts the interrelations between humans and nature, through juxtaposition of a woman’s face and motifs from nature, mainly leaves and flowers. Use of earthy tones create a symbolism of the transient nature of human existence, while leading to deeper existential questions. He insisted that it is an inner quest which leads to his artistic expressions. The figures or forms that emerge during this journey are transient just like human existence.

Moshe Dayan Bhupathi explores the depths of the minds of humans as the eternal seekers of peace and spiritual fulfilment. There is anguish and void that dwells in everyone’s mind that leads to emotional expressions. In the present series, he has represented that expression in the form of women flute players. Interestingly, he explains that even though there is this musical instrument seen in the paintings, the paintings are not about music as such, nor about women. Rather it is an expression of the sensations that the artist can feel from deep-rooted memories and feelings, which in their residual form led to human forms and colours. He further clarified that as he is on an ongoing journey of seeking the inner world of the human mind, no one can predict what will come next. The forms seen today may not be there tomorrow. That way, the mystery continues as the seeker moves on and on.

This exhibition provides an opportunity to peep into the minds of these five artists who are on their individual exploratory journeys to understand the human condition. Their approaches, styles and media are diverse, yet the exhibition is successful in providing an enriching and unified visual experience, befitting the title ‘Songs of the Falling Raindrops’.

The exhibition is open for visitors till 7^th August from 11 am to 7 pm at Jehangir Art Gallery.

Vineel Bhurke