The pandemic has impacted every corner of the world. However, artist communities across the globe are dealing with the crisis in their own way. Bengaluru’s artists too introduced quite a few initiatives during the last six months, and a few galleries reopened with COVID-19 precautions in place. Art Houz, the Vasanthnagar-based gallery opened earlier this week with the show Journey II. The gallery turns two this year and this show is a part of the celebration.
Journey II primarily looks at art that has been created during confinement. The 12 featured artists include names such as Darshan Kumar YU, Dayananda N, Kushal Kumar, Manjunath Wali and Sachin Sagare. Their creations are reflections of the different ways in which people dealt with the ‘new normal.’ For example, Venugopal VG’s works, titled In Solitude (Re-Imagined), focus on an individual’s imagination. Although people are restricted to their homes, the mind can go wherever it wants to, and this idea finds representation in his creations.
“The images in my works are caught between complex situations and dilemmas of reality. All the backgrounds (in the paintings) capture the imagination of people,” explains the artist, who has combined water colour on paper and hand-cut paper techniques to create these mixed-media pieces.
Praveen Kumar’s works look at how cities are evolving irrespective of the pandemic. An artist whose passion lies in creating architectural designs, Praveen, through his paintings, showcases different dimensions of cities. “I have visualised cities and their growth through different colours and elements,” explains the artist.” Triangles, squares, cubicles and lines — both horizontal and vertical — are defining elements of Praveen’s creations.
Although there isn’t a theme to the show, Art Houz sums up the concept in a statement: “Many of the works take on a new interpretation, offer a gaze, sometimes nostalgic or oneiric, other times ironic, comic or critical, about the external world from which human beings are physically isolated.”
Entry free. Until October 25. At Vasanthnagar
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