Just a month after his last exhibition in town, Siddipet-based artist Y Balaiah is now showing his recent paintings of Telangana women. These women of the rustic, rich olden days are seen traditionally decked up with ethnic jewelry, beads and a big dot of vermilion on their foreheads. Full compositions, almost filling the confines of the canvas in the manner of a design, at once remind you of veteran artist Vaikuntam's stylistic Telangana women painted in similar bright colors, including the use of gold and silver tints. Vaikuntham depicts a leisurely elegance in these women, while Balaiah gives a rough rustic touch.
Like Vaikuntham, Balaiah too studies the intricate patterns of jewelry and the way of dressing of these rustic, dark, fat and powerful women who often seem to have specific traits - they are shown talking to parrots or playing with a child or just in a 'dwibhanga' stance. The artist liberally uses colours of red, green, yellow, bright blue etc., making the exhibition as a whole look like 'figurative rangoli paintings on walls'!
The elderly Yasala Balaiah is a national award winner, and had recently exhibited his paintings of 'bulls' and also his 'heritage of rural life' at the Lakshana Art Gallery. Dr. C Narayana Reddy inaugurated the present exhibition.