Hyderabad Artist Laxman Aelay’s Monochromatic Collection ‘inked Images’ Was Born Throughout Lockdown As He Noticed The Liberty Loved By Birds And Animals
“The pandemic changed the way I approach art,” says Laxman Aelay. ‘Inked Images’, a monochromatic collection of fifty pen and ink drawings by the well-known artist from Hyderabad, displays this modification in method. On view at Kadari Art Gallery in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, and nearly (kadariartgallery.com), Inked Images is the artist’s multi-layered depiction of birds, animals and bugs within the city ecosystem.
Aelay labored on this collection in 2020 when India went into lockdown in March. “As artists, we are used to isolation. In addition, since there were no social obligations or meetings to attend, I could give my undivided attention to my work,” he says.
A couple of days earlier than the lockdown, he had visited the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad accompanied by different artists. The artists had sponsored the maintenance of the 37-year-old elephant Sita, following their earlier collection Gaja, an exhibition of elephant sculptures. “I observed the animals and birds at close quarters in the zoo. Once the lockdown was imposed, we all heard how animals and birds had more freedom to explore urban spaces and highways. All this prompted me to work on this series and touch upon multiple issues,” he says.
The artworks are characterised by fantastic traces, the occasional use of calligraphy and Telugu typography to lend wealthy detailing, whereas exploring themes associated to ecological steadiness.
A digital viewing of artwork might need turn out to be the brand new norm through the pandemic, however Aelay encourages artwork lovers to go to the gallery to take a more in-depth look and decipher the nuances.
Since Kadari Art Gallery is spearheaded by architect Supraja Rao, the digital exhibition elements within the probability of viewers who could also be eager to amass a couple of artworks for his or her properties and places of work. The exhibition provides an thought of how a few of these works would possibly look on the wall, utilizing representational photos of digital staging.
Aelay is popularly identified for figurative artworks via which he portrays rural Telangana life, with real looking imagery. Turmeric yellows and vermillion reds are a part of his color palette.
Inked Images is starkly monochromatic and veers in the direction of expressionism: “I had no access to my studio during the complete lockdown. All I had were pen, paper and ink at home and I decided to do a black-and-white series,” he says.
