Depicting the enigmatic tales

Uttar Pradesh-based artist Bhuwal Prasad is exhibiting his works in ‘Crptic Parables’ at Iconart Gallery. Bhuwal did his BFA Painting from Faculty of Visual Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and subsequently, he pursued MFA from Delhi Arts College.

Bhuwal’s works depict the ancient stories recounted by grandmothers to their grandchildren. Through his artworks, he shares about his village experience, where he lived with tribal people and also portrays environment and nature.

He shared, “My works are expressionistic in nature. Bold strokes flow in automatic rhythms. If you see from close quarters the paintings look completely abstract; they seem to be all about colours and the rhythms. But if you see from a distance, figures and characters in the painting start evolving. I don’t paint any iconic and singular figures on my canvas.

There is some amount of surrealism in my paintings because they are real-life inspired images but they are refined through the story induced fears, joys, and anxieties. This helps me to keep my thoughts and feelings about the innocent world of stories intact.”

He added, “There may be a question why I am so keen on depicting characters that are harmonious in their coexistence? Whether my characters are ethereal creatures or human beings, animals or birds, they share a strong sense of familiarity and aloofness between themselves from the contemporary world that we experience in our daily lives.

In my mind I align everything with the purity of tribal life, their customs and systems carry the innocence of the primordial life. For me, tribal people are those fellow beings, who believe in the single entity of a god manifested in anything that lives in the world. My works obliquely show how this alternative is possible for the urbanised contemporary human beings.”

Bhuwal stated that artworks reiterate the fact that going back to the primordial innocence of the human self would help in creating a new world. All his works are acrylic on canvas and some are in abstract forms.

What: Cryptic Parables
When: until September 27, between 11.30am and 7pm
Where: Iconart Gallery, Banjara Hills

By Heena Mishra