Hues of life

Buddhas in the shades of yellow, blue, green; the calmness of nature; the surreal Benares city and the innocence of Jesus and Ganesha will be adorning the walls of Cymroza Art Gallery to raise funds for cancer patients in need of financial support.

Titled Colours of Life, the annual exhibition now in its 15th year, has canvases from 106 artists from all over India, including renowned painters such as Brinda Chudasama Miller, Charan Sharma, Jaishree Burman, Kahini Arte-Merchant, Satish Gujral, T. Vaikuntam, to name a few.

“Jayasri Burman usually doesn’t make Buddhas but she painted one especially for us with watercolours and it’s quite an attractive piece. Then, there is a lovely work by Charan Sharma who has made a blue Shrinathji for the exhibition,” says Dr Shubha Maudgal, Executive Director - Special Projects, CPAA, and co-curator of the exhibition.  

“We also have T. Vaikuntam’s work who is famous for painting beautiful tribal women from Andhra Pradesh. These women are very peculiar in their appearances. They have a certain kind of a hairstyle and big bindi,” she adds. The exhibition has a collection of close to 170 paintings with many artist having given more than two paintings.

The variety of artwork range from oil, acrylics, charcoal, macrame, abstracts, figurative, serigraphs and sculptures, in different sizes on display is also an opportunity to remember artists who have supported the cause since its inception in 2005.

Jayasri Burman’s Buddha

“We have quite a few Buddhas. Also, we have five different artists who have painted versions of the Benaras city. What is amazing is how the same topic can be portrayed in so many different forms,” smiles Dr Shubha.

On display will also be veteran artist Brinda Chudasama Miller’s Enchanted Forest and just like her previous works, this one is full of colours for the painter believes in celebrating life. “My work is spontaneous, whatever I do. I don’t like to plan too much and like to do cheerful work,” says Brinda emphasising that she can never refuse CPAA.

A take from nature, the painting is from Miller’s older style of work that she pulled out especially for the exhibition from her archive. “I have been working on this painting for quite a few years. I used to work on it and keep it aside. But for the exhibition, I worked on it furthermore and have tried to contemporarise it a little bit,” she says.

Artist Kahini Arte-Merchant’s All the Stars in the Sky portraying a woman with stars, moon, and tress in the backdrop signify abundance. However, the painter likes to leave the work open for interpretation.

“It is about giving. I have done it between Indian miniature and the Tudor art. The stars in the background are strange-looking because nothing is supposed to look realistic,” says the 60-year-old artist. As to the detailing in the collar, Merchant tells that it comes more from the obsessive-compulsive disorder state of mind than trying to make it decorative.

Among the list of well knows is a pop star by student artist Abhishek Chandoria dipped in eye catching colours. “With the famous artists their work is quite expensive, so we have tried to get a variety. Some paintings will appeal to a wide spectrum as far as the audience is concerned and also give them a choice that will meet their budget,” concludes Dr Shubha.