Artists celebrate the power of cinema in Hyderabad with Chitram, a dazzling collection of paintings, installations and sculptures inspired by films from across India, from Mumbai to Mithila.
Artists celebrate the power of cinema in Hyderabad with Chitram, a dazzling collection of paintings, installations and sculptures inspired by films from across India, from Mumbai to Mithila.
The artefacts that are on display as part of the Chitram exhibition are intended to act like a vintage passport for film lovers to celebrate cinema over the decades. Artist and curator Annapurna M hit upon the idea during the pandemic, noting how entertainment serves to escape the confinement within the four walls: “We were all dealing with a situation we have never faced before. did. For many people, watching movies helped ward off depressing thoughts. ,
Annapurna shared the idea of an exhibition inspired by cinema with artists from across India. He responded with paintings, installations and sculptures tracing the development of cinema in various languages – Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and lesser-known Maithili.
nostalgia gate
Chennai-based artist KR Santhana Krishnan, often referred to as ‘Darwaje’ Santhanam for his door paintings that serve as a gateway to nostalgia, in an old world hand-painted style Today’s movie scenes recreated. In his paintings, walls lined with brightly colored doors come alive with scenes from Telugu films RRR, Pushpa And Teacher,
Years ago, he says he saw glazed doors with a turmeric-painted baseline in the Andhra Pradesh region and used it for a painting of the Chiranjeevi-starrer. Teacher: “Since the exhibition opens in Hyderabad, I wanted to feature Telugu film images. Six months ago when I started working on the series, the first posters of these films were out. Pushpa And RRR proved to be a blockbuster and Teacher Will release in cinemas soon. The timing has been perfect,” he said as he cross-checked Telugu fonts with friends.
Proudly mentioning that one of his artworks was featured in a scene by SS Rajamouli ega , naan e in Tamil), he says that the hand-painted film posters have a nostalgic value: “When the poster of my first film was inspired by MGR Enga Veetu Pillai Exhibited at the Singapore Art Fair, a German national said the artwork brought back memories of his visit to India. a movie poster of policeman, for example, would remind someone of their college days. We associate cinema with different phases of our lives.”
A mixed media work by Laxman Alley makes reference to the cycle series stunt sequence from Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Shiva’. photo credit: special arrangement
Annapurna explains that some famous Indian artists began their journey as poster painters: “In art college, many students learn to sketch one of the first images which is a portrait of a famous star.”
stars and their weapons
The iconic Hyderabad artist Lakshman Ale worked as a poster designer and art director for some of Ram Gopal Varma’s earlier films. His paintings are a comeback for the cult hit RGV Shiv Starring Nagarjuna and Amala. At the forefront of the image is the fist of the lead actor clutching a bicycle chain firmly, reminiscent of the action sequences that became a rage in 1990. The background is speckled with many of the weapons used bahubali, “I am fascinated by the unlikely weapons used by the heroes in Indian cinema, be it the cycle chain Shiv Or the range of weapons in many of Rajamouli’s films,” says Ailey.
Anamika Ramachandran’s work on Rajinikanth | photo credit: special arrangement
Chennai-based artist Anamika Ramachandran’s dotted image of Rajinikanth, along with another work in which one has to gaze into dots for a scene to appear, is inspired by the ritual of chanting: “When we chant a poem or a word several times So it’s our part with a timeline,” she says. Stating that the dotted view was achieved by putting several newspapers together, she says it reminds her of growing up watching Rajinikanth’s films. One can step closer to the artwork and notice the depth of the (paper-cutting) points within a grid.
Mixed Media Installation by N. Ramachandran | photo credit: special arrangement
Her husband N Ramachandran’s mixed media installation titled ‘@’ is a tribute to his mother’s spice box, which contains colored spice powders and myriad incidents on a typical Indian street. He placed many of the items he collected over the years in small boxes of a spice box-like structure, with scenes related to the film: “I thought the spice box approach would be relevant to our memories of cinema.”
Other Chennai artists who contributed to Chitram are Parvati Nair, Raj Kapoor and Nargis with Rain Song, a series of nine images memorizing the song. ‘Love happened’ from Mr 420And the hashtag #collective’s artworks are dedicated to the women of Indian cinema – choreographer Saroj Khan, actors Bhanumati Ramakrishna, Nargis, Nadia, Sulochana, Devika Rani and Jaddan Bai.
Artist Bharti Varma’s nod for Irrfan Khan starrer ‘Lunchbox’ photo credit: special arrangement
cross area
Artifacts Inspired by Amitabh Bachchan’s Angry Young Man Image, Iconic Film cindervarious customizations of devdas and Irrfan Khan lunch box Also in the picture. Kannada cinema is represented by the theatrical work Superstar of artist KJ Appajaiah. inspired by Kasturi Niwas Starring the great Raj Kumar.
Artist Sanjay Das recalls the impact of watching Satyajit Ray’s Bengali classics during Durga Puja, recreating the light and shadow effects of Ray’s films. Using the Madhubani style of painting, artist Avinash Karn sheds light on the lesser-known Maithili language (the native language of parts of India and Nepal) cinema through a painting inspired by Maithili film. Cheap Gina Mahag Senuri,
(Chitram will be displayed at the State Gallery of Art, Hyderabad from April 16 to 24 and at annapurnacurator.com. The exhibition is planned to be displayed in Mumbai, Chennai and other cities in the near future)