What began in Kochi!

Art gives humans a canvas to portray their emotions. And the quest to showcase art in a new concept has driven many artists to experiment with ideas. A group of Telangana artists will be showcasing art works on larger canvas for the art exhibition titled ‘Nouveau 8X12’, which will be launched in Hyderabad, at Chitramayee State Gallery on 11 November.

‘Nouveau 8X12’ refers to the set of new works of art that are exclusively created for the show. Along with canvases of massive pictorial spaces, sized eight feet in height and 12 feet in width, emanating each individual artist’s creative energy, the show also encompasses large sculptures, installations, video art, and performances. "As the term Nouveau literally denotes ‘new,’ the title of the show largely indicates a humble but ambitious effort of the 13 artists and their new art initiation called ‘The Coal Group’, which aims at exploring new possibilities in art practice," says artist Laxman Aelay.

About the inspiration behind the exhibition is Kerala, Laxman says, "It all started when we went to see the Kochi Biennale. We all were so inspired by it that we decided to do an art show in Hyderabad, but with a difference. We planned to do a show on large format canvases and agreed on a monumental size 8ft x 12ft."

The exhibition is conceived and mounted to discover new processes that do not limit only to picture-making but rather the making itself as a collective process and as a part of their practical and theoretical exploration.

"We have voluntarily chosen to work on large-scale canvases for the first time and made an attempt to experiment with our conventional approaches on a challenging visual space along with trying our hand in new media as well. A few artists, who have a research bent connected their studies to their practical work providing a new vista to the onlooker. These research oriented works, although have not deviated from their individualistic styles or what they naively believe as their own “identity” explore further possibilities in their art practice. The enthusiastic temperament of each artist in taking up new challenges is evident in the artworks," he says.

Anand Gadapa, Bharath Sayam, Bolgum Nagesh Goud, Jayaprakash Doma, Narsimlu Kandi, Kumaraswamy Bhaktala, Ravikanth Masuram, Nirmala Biluka, Priti Samyukta, Priyanka Aelay, Shankar Pamarthy and Shivaramachary Yerraginnela are participating in the expo along with Laxman.