VENUGOPAL V.G. is a well established, multi-disciplinary visual artist from India. His art practice during the last decade includes Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Installations, Video, Animation etc. Though he never intended to be anchored to any style, his works are largely figurative and developed from experiences and observations of the urban spaces and his own perceptions of the issues associated with it. The multicultural, cosmopolitan surroundings have been the major influence for his practice in general, with an emphasis on the uncertain, fragile characters of present day urban society.
His recent works are attempts of a critical engagement with the place and time we live-in; his evolving alternative approaches in dealing with questions we ask ourself about changing facets of human relations and sensibilities, issues related to displacement, migration and struggle for identity in the present context. He uses traces of narrative realism combined with the surreal imagery, metaphors, variations in scale and repetition as the devices to achieve the desired results.
Artist Venugopal believes that a work of art should live in the ‘present’. Along with the aesthetic and conceptual values it processes, it should make people think and ponder.
Exhibitions:
Solo shows:
‘NOW SHOWING….’ Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore (2003);
‘MONOLOGUES’, Gallery Blue Spade, Bangalore (2010)
‘FACTUAL FICTIONS’, Gallery Veda, Chennai (2016);
Hastakshar Art Gallery, The Westin, Pune (2017).
Group shows:
‘NEW COLOURS OF SUMUKHA’, Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore (2005);
‘TAKE 2- THE CHENNAI CHAPTER’, Gallery Sumukha, Chennai (2006);
‘Artists’ Word’ curated by Dr.Veena Shekar, Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore (2009);
‘City in Transit’, curated by Suresh Jayaram, Theertha Red Dot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka (2010);
‘I AM HERE’, an exhibition of Video Self Portraits curated by Lina Vincent Sunish, JAAGA Creative Common Ground, Bangalore (2011);
‘The Print Spotlight’, Gallery 545, Bangalore (2012);
‘My City’ curated by Giridhar Khasnis, Sublime Galleria, Bangalore (2012);
‘BETWEEN THE LINES – Identity, Place and Power’ Waswo X. Waswo collection of Indian Printmaking, NGMA, Bangalore and Mumbai (2013);
‘LOST IN TRANSITION’ curated by Avijit Dutta, Harrington Street Arts Centre, Kolkata (2014);
‘MEMORABILIA’ curated by Lina Vincent Sunish, Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore (2014);
‘DIALOGUES WITH THE SELF’ curated by Anirudh Chari for ‘The Portret Project’, New Delhi (2014);
‘FOODS-2015’, International Video Art Festival, Magmart, Naples, Italy (2015);
‘MORPHOLOGY OF ARCHIVE: Connected Histories of Goa’ curated by Sabitha TP and Lina Vincent, Museum of Goa (2016);
BODY curated by Johny ML, Shanghumugham Art Museum, Thiruvananthapuram (2019);
‘A Paradigm Shift’ Gallery Time & Space, Bangalore (2020);
‘Soliloquies’ Anant Art, New Delhi (2020); ‘Drawing Show’ Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore (2021).
National and International exhibitions :
National Exhibition of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; Bharath Bhavan International Biennale of Print Art, Bhopal;
The Americas Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Prints, IOWA City, USA (2010);
6th Kyoto International Woodprint Association (KIWA), Kyoto, Japan (2011); ‘Magmart VII’ Video Art Festival, Naples, Italy (2012);
100x100=900, Magmart Video Art Festival, Naples, Italy (2013);
‘F.I.V.E.’ International Video Art Festival, Magmart, Naples, Italy (2014);
7th Biennale of Indian Contemporary Art, Bharath Bhavan, Bhopal (2017);
1st Print Biennale, LKA, New Delhi (2018);
7th Guanlan International Print Biennial, Shenzin, China (2019);
International Virtual Engravist Printmaking Bienal, Turkey (2020);
‘APPEARANCES’ International Exhibition of Contemporary Printmaking, Caldas University, Manizales – Colombia (2020);
‘Continuity’ VI Biennial of Contemporary Graphics - DIEGO DONATI Prize, Perugia, Italy (2020); Print Meet 2021,
II International Printmaking Exhibition, Trakya University, Turkey (2021);
4th Jogja International Miniprint Biennale, Indonesia (2021).
Awards:
He was part of the residency at Theertha International Artists Collective in Sri Lanka in 2010.
KK Hebbar Art Foundation Gold Medal in BFA from University of Mysore (1998);
National Lalit Kala Akademi Scholarship, New Delhi (2000-01);
Karnataka Lalithkala Academy Award (2000);
National Scholarship, Dept. of Culture, Govt. of India, New Delhi (2001-03);
H.K.Kejriwal Young Artist Award, Bangalore (2007);
Printmaking Fellowship, Karnataka Lalithkala Academy,Bangalore (2010);
Camel Art Foundation Award, 12th Southern Region Exhibition (2010);
‘Magmart – VII’ International Video Art Festival, Naples, Italy (2012);
‘Inspiration from Isolation’, New York Art Competitions (2020).
