Plethora of artists paint Mumbai with myriad colours

A large turnout of art lovers at the India Art Festival, which is being held in Bandra Kurla Complex, has artists basking in the limelight.

The exhibition, which ends on December 2, showcases more than 3,000 artworks, including paintings of MF Husain and SH Raza.

The artists have come from various parts of India as Mumbai is considered a city of art lovers, buyers and connoisseurs.

Nagpur-based artist Bijay Biswaal has brought with him some of his acrylic works. Biswaal’s ‘Earth and Sky’ is particularly striking. It shows roots branching out of a human being, connecting him with heaven and earth. It depicts the yogic idea of kundali.

Roots are the leitmotif in Biswaal’s works.

“I was born in the idyllic town of Pallahara in Angul district of Orissa. So natural beauty has always been a source of inspiration,” he says.

Biswaal is a man of many talents. He writes poetry, makes cartoons and at one point of time, when he was college-going boy in Orissa, he used to make clay idols for Lakshmi puja.

His paintings at the festival are reasonably priced — between Rs3,000 and Rs1,00,000.

Delhi-based Devangana Kumar’s work on velvet titled ‘Pageants of the Raj’ is a throwback in time. She highlights the little pleasures of the orderlies of the colonial era.

Another Delhi artist Prince Chand is in love with the maximum city. “Mumbaikars love to engage with art. For a painter, the city is full of beautiful images,” he said.

Yayaati Desai, an engineer  with a calling for art, came from Surat just to attend this exhibition.

For art lover Dr Shyamal Garud, a Marathi writer and a Bandra resident, this festival is a treasure trove of stories as she believes every painting has a story to narrate. “I wanted to learn painting when I was young. This childhood fascination has drawn me to this event,” she says.