A whiff of the canal city

In his latest show ‘Venice in Hyderabad’, Surya Prakash has moved away from painting his signature nature to depicting Venice scapes

Venice, the beautiful city in Italy, has always attracted visitors on account of its unique beauty of canals. It evokes a sense of wonder to many who come to see it and is inspirational too. There is a certain romantic charm associated with Venice, the city of glass and gondolas. Senior artist Surya Prakash’s recent exhibition too is all about Venice – a show which gives glimpses of this city. ‘Venice in Hyderabad’ as the show is titled is in total contrast to the works Surya Prakash has been doing. Moving away from his signature style of nature scapes where he painted various elements like forest, pools of water, flowers, bare tree trunks, wild grass in vibrant hues to a different visual vocabulary of Venice scapes.

As one walks through the Art Gallery at Trident Hotel seeing the works (some colour canvases, some black and white and two etchings) mounted on the wall gives an impression of ‘being in Venice’ or rather brings back memories of Venice if one has visited it. One may wonder with surprise why an artist who has been painting nature in pristine ways has made almost a paradigm shift to depicting a city on canvas and in graphics (etchings).

“I came to know about Venice many years ago in 1962-63 when I was just out of college. There was an exhibition in College of Fine Arts inaugurated by Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy where I saw a painting of Vidya Bhushan on Venice. I remember I enquired from him is there a sort of floating city? Later I had curated a show (a retrospective) of Vidya Bhushan and PT Reddy. In this there was a large work by Vidya Bhushan of Venice done in his studio after his visit to the city.

There were two-three pictures which induced a sense of interest in Venice. Nothing happened thereafter. About three years ago Gaurang Jalan had arranged a visit to Venice. It was five-day visit. I went into the interiors too and took a lot of photographs with my camera. I saw a lot of mostly old structures and water. I thought I would paint on return. However for close to two years I was busy with group exhibitions and one-man shows,” says Surya Prakash.

In 2013 Surya Prakash began to paint on Venice. “I made the effort to do two-three canvases last year and the rest I did this year. I also did two etchings and B/W works too. These works are different. While painting nature I had freedom. For Venice I had to control myself. The architectural element is predominant. The nativity has to come. The approach is more realistic. I used the oil and brush and in certain places I worked with the knife,’ says Surya on his approach.

The visual vocabulary is certainly different and distinct. The colour palette is subtle and muted. Rather one sees more of greys and browns and a smokey feel too. The buildings look as though they are floating on the shimmering waters with the ubiquitous gondola here and there in some works. There is an interesting play of light in the reflections of structures. The recreations are almost realistic, some replete with the canals, houses with plants and flowers, bridges. The only thing which is conspicuous is the absence of people. It seems like just a city. “I saw the buildings by the day and could not see how the light played at night. I never painted people. Just to give a picture of life I painted a bit of plants.”

The works may be sober, grey, muted and gloomy but they are mesmerising and haunting - as though the city is not a live one. The works arrest and call for attention and one is certainly enchanted by the waterways, the structures, the play of light and shade. Venice certainly seems to have inspired Surya Prakash and in the process enchants the viewers.

This show will travel to the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai in Februrary. “I will call it Venice in Mumbai there as it Venice in Hyderabad here,” adds Surya Prakash

- Venice in Hyderabad is on at the Kalakriti Art Gallery, Trident Hotel till November 27 (1 pm – 10 pm) and at Kalakriti Art Gallery, (road no.10, Banjara Hills) from November 29 to December 6 ( 11 am to 7 pm) .