2024 Artists

“We must change almost everything in our current societies.
The bigger your carbon footprint - the bigger your moral duty.
The bigger your platform - the bigger your responsibility.
Adults keep saying: 'We owe it to the young people to give them hope.'
But I don't want your hope.
I don't want you to be hopeful.
I want you to panic.
I want you to feel the fear I feel every day.
And then I want you to act.
I want you to act as you would in a crisis.
I want you to act as if our house is on fire.
Because it is.”

-Greta Thunberg, No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference

Masuram Ravikant’s conceptual assemblage reflects on a poem inspired from Telugu poet Dasharathi and penned by his father. The installation brings together variables such as burnt books stacked in a row, adjacent to toys of animals and birds mounted on target boards, serving as a reminder of their vulnerable state. A striking collage made from cutouts of plastic shopping bags, an emblem of daily pollution anchors the whole composition underscoring the environmental impact of such ubiquitous waste.

Being a versatile sculptor, S. Kantha Reddy creates his monumental relief sculpture in wood procured from demolished doors of old houses around the city. With the concept of five elements of nature as vital to human sustenance, a fish like form, apparently inspired from the Matsya avatar, is made out of discarded and assorted wooden blocks used for fabric printing, old vessels and metal scrap collected, prompting the best out of waste concept.

Ravi Chunchula’s miniaturesque renditions are subtle social commentaries on the growing disparity between nature and culture that evoke a sense of irony. His large set of works act as vignettes of a fragmented history humans have had with nature as technological progress and personal greed precede ecological balance. A landscape with cliffs and vegetation pops out of a carton box with a bar code, while a monkey carries a mountain over a cement pillar reflecting on the impact of over consumption, capitalism and rapid urbanization. A man urinating away oblivious to a rocket soaring into the sky seamlessly captures the chaotic human existence.

Informed by eco feminist and environmental justice frameworks, Nirmala Biluka’s works consider the hierarchical structures of gender and class as reckonings behind the subjugation of both women and nature. Such masculine cultural norms can be seen in hunting, domesticity and exploitation of land and natural resources. Inspired from Indian deities and their association with nature and fertility, her works reflect on the role of the feminine in procreation, sustenance and preservation of nature and culture.

By presenting the world in stark contrasts through his lens, Sharath Mudupu encourages viewers to reflect on the delicate balance between human wellbeing, health and nature, urging us to preserve natural wonders for future generations just as we are concious of what and how much food we consume. His photographs of rock formations set against an enlarged piece of 2 cake highlight a disconnect between human insatiability and our ecological responsibility towards the planet.

Jayaprakash who usually muses over the form of majestic tigers within a reverie like realm enchants us with his latest video art. Through this new media work, he meditates on various aspects of living under constant threats, not only environmental but those caused by human desires and greed such as adulteration of food, over consumption of goods etc. Contrasting the green patches of land against grey concrete jungles and wheat mills against stone grinders, he highlights the irony of urban lives.

Gayatri Dhanthuri's prints delve into the delicate and often unnoticed lives of small creatures like butterflies, emphasizing their crucial role in sustaining ecosystems. Her intricately carved woodcuts capture the metamorphic cycles of these anthropods, symbolizing transformation and the beauty found in their fleeting lives. By magnifying these overlooked aspects of nature, her work offers a moment of solace and reflection, reminding us that the microcosm is essential in balancing the macrocosm.

Afza Tamkanat's work sensitively bridges the gap between the natural world and urban life, offering a serene escape through her watercolours. Her depictions of Hyderabadi cityscapes intertwined with nature, like the presence of sparrows amidst human surroundings, evokes a deep sense of nostalgia. The delicate portrayal of these scenes reminds us of a slower, more peaceful time, a life more attuned to nature's rhythms. Her work seems to invite viewers to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the natural world.

Ramesh Baikani meticulously paints his contemplations on deterioration of natural surroundings through metaphor of a child placed at the center of a beehive like macrocosm, as tiny red bugs are juxtaposed alongside shiny bullets, suggesting the imminent dangers that lurk around for the future generations.

Jangaiah Polepogu presents his proficient oil paintings with the ocean and its creatures as his central theme. With unimaginable amounts of waste being dumped into the oceans each day, the waterbodies have become living hell for sea creatures. Forgetting that water is essential to all life on earth, human greed is depleting it with war weapons, nuclear destruction, industrial pollution and hazardous garbage. His work urges the onlookers to reflect on their desires in the name of development and reconsider what they yearn for.

Jagadeesh’s video art titled, ‘Unrequited Love’ captures a river's journey across multiple locations in seven states of India. The multi shot narrative seamlessly weaves a tale of love between the river, breeze and the land as it flows into the ocean. Offering a meditative and calming recourse to the muddled urban lives and to contemplate on the complex relationship of humankind with nature.

K. Vijay’s multiple versions of technically proficient viscosity prints offer us a view of vast agricultural landscapes where the empty fields invite the viewer into an expanse to introspect on the simplicity and nostalgia of rural life, as a metaphor for reminiscing over a disconnect with land and its nourishing energy that provides for human survival.

Madhukar Mucharla who generally works on social issues of marginalisation, offers his take on environmental crisis in his latest assemblage of traditional sheet metal beating and handmade leather figures. A tree shaped out of leather flowers becomes the idol that needs to be worshipped as he believes nature itself is our creator and we, as devotees must venerate and protect it.

In her immersive installation, ‘I am Still Safe in Here’ Harsha Kancharla, provokes the viewers to confront the vulnerable state of our existence while questioning our complicity in environmental destruction. By using delicate threads and charcoal powder, symbolizing fragile nature of human existence and environmental degradation, the artist crafts an ethereal space that critiques the devastating impact of ecological deprivation due to relentless urbanization.

Dindi Praveen Sagar’s dexterously rendered drawings represent futuristic visions of the remains on planet earth as human neglect and destruction leads to its own extinction. Abstract forms symbolic of alien creatures take over human reminiscent like bones, plastic and biowaste as vegetation outgrows them. His works are prophetic visions of an inescapable truth as nature take its own course leading us to an apocalyptic end.

Sai Karnekota, through his terracotta sculptures, aims to provoke deep reflection on the consequences of our actions and inspire a shared commitment to safeguarding the planet for future generations. His work underscores the vital connection between humanity’s survival and the health of our ecosystems. He urges us to acknowledge the fragility of our world and to take decisive, collective action to protect it.

Uma’s works are insightful renditions of the delicate beauty and vulnerability of nature. Her meticulously painted watercolours take a meditative guise as one layer overlaps with other, capturing the transient yet sustaining nature of life forms. As fast paced technologically savvy human life takes over, her works call the viewer for a moment of contemplation, transcendence and retrospection offering a philosophical take on human existence.

Rajesh Naik’s piece "The Echo of Exhaust" is a relief work made out of weathered number plates mounted on the shape of an auto rickshaw, evoking a city scarred by time and neglect. The once-vibrant colors of the auto-rickshaw are now muted and grimy, mirroring the loss of clarity and vitality in our urban spaces due to relentless pollution. It is a call to action, urging us to reconsider our relationship with the environment and to take meaningful steps towards sustainable change.

Bolgum Aditya’s functional art pieces interestingly explore the dynamics and often disorienting effects of rapid urbanization on both the environment and the human psyche. His art seeks to represent the never-ending growth of urban spaces, which involve a dynamic interplay between the built environment and the human narratives that animate it. The sprawling cityscapes in his art works are not merely representations of physical growth but also metaphors for the psychological and emotional shifts experienced by those living within them.