V. Srinath’s assays in various media such as, painting, printmaking and photography are showcased in this exhibit. A predominant concern that encompasses all his works is about handling materials to create a highly textured visual harmony. The range he has worked with includes conventional surfaces for painting, such as, paper or canvas and the unconventional grounds of printing such as, on banana fiber paper, handmade/prepared/recycled paper etc. Srinath seems to interact with the materials to bring out possibilities and methods of working with them. What is important to him is the very process through which works emerge playfully.

Conceptually his works are about his responses, reactions to changing life styles, situations and predicaments. Such autobiographical works are, perhaps, like pages from a diary wherein the most intimate thoughts are narrated at times with the help of figures, letters and at times in a more kinesthetic, abstract manner.

On browsing through his recent series called the Windows Without Walls we find ourselves amidst the sites on the World Wide Web. The artist critically yet wittily interprets some effects of the new regime of electronic communications. 

In a series of paintings titled Seasons, Srinath records the emotional impact of colours while trying to correlate them with different seasons in a year. The subtle nuances of pigments, the brisk rhythmic knife marks create a painting, which is erotic. However, it is also lyrical, like Zen poetry.

Srinath not only represents his self-reflections but also engages us with his views on inter- personal dialogue, particularly in the photographs. Very simple, downtrodden and rural people feature in these works. By way of masquerading through these characters, the artist recalls his own past and perhaps, also brings out his/ their aspirations with a tinge of humour, for instance, the work titled Main Shahrukh Khan Banna Chahata Hun.

- B.S.Rohini Iyengar

 M.A. / Ph.D /

Art Historian / Critic