Where flowers meet the forest
The women in Laxman’s paintings are the perfect blend of subtly treated tanned bodies and goddesses' eyes.
Hyderabad: It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the art scene in Hyderabad is bustling post the pandemic. As eminent artist Laxman Aelay and his daughter Priyanka Aelay opened their exhibitions at the Chitramayee State Gallery of Art over the weekend, the entire art community including K. Laxma Goud was there to show their support.
For the first time ever, the father-daughter duo is having their solo exhibitions titled ‘Poolamma – The Goddess of Life’ and ‘Proverbial Pathways’ respectively, at the same time and place. Next, they will be exhibiting together at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai.
Speaking at the launch, Laxma Goud said he understands Laxman’s work better than anyone else and that he knew how wonderful his new series was going to be even before he saw it with his eyes. Laxman reminisced how Laxma wrote the catalogue for his first exhibition back in 1999 and said, “I entered Fine Arts quite late. It took me 30 years to become a painter from a signboard artist. When Priyanka would go to school, I would go to college and when she was pursuing BFA, I joined MFA… later we both pursued Ph.D.”
The women in Laxman’s paintings are the perfect blend of subtly treated tanned bodies and goddesses’ eyes. Wearing large bindis, traditional jewellery like toe rings and nose rings, and flowers in the hair, you will see the women casually lying on a sunflower field, cradling their children or selling fruits at the market.
Priyanka Aelay
The camouflaging floral patterns both on costumes and in the background won’t go unnoticed. ‘Poolamma’ literally means mother of flowers – synonymous with Telangana’s floral festival Bathukamma. The artist’s acrylic paintings have been done on a linen canvas.
As a striking contrast, Priyanka’s paintings lack bright colours but contain more depth. You will notice a variety of animals and birds lost in between trees in the forest. You will also see the third avatar of Lord Vishnu, Varaha Avatar, subtly demonstrated in one of the paintings.
Priyanka’s acrylic paintings have been done both on linen and regular canvas. Expressing gratitude to her family and everyone present at the exhibition, Priyanka gifted two of her paintings to Laxma Goud and Dr K Lakshmi, the Director of the State Art Gallery.
The artist duo is also exhibiting pen and ink works on paper. The exhibitions are on view till September 25 from 11 am to 6 pm.
