After thoroughly understanding several concepts of town planning through drawings and sketching, Deviprasad C. Rao didn’t take much time to decide which county would become his muse, when it came to recreating architectural marvels of a city onto the canvas. Having made Goa his home for over a decade, he was familiar with its long history as a Portuguese colony and was in awe of its beautiful Portuguese houses. “Town planning drawings was a self-taught exercise to understand the nature and scale of a city and find different ways of expressing its beauty on canvas. While I experimented with Goa’s architectural beauty during my learning process, I was looking for a country, which wasn’t high-profile or popular, to create a series,” says Deviprasad.
“In Goa, conversations always revolve around Portugal, particularly Lisbon. So, I decided to travel there and look for myself what it had in store for me. And, I was stunned by its architectural beauty,” he says.
This is how his long affair with Portugal began in 2013. In the same year, he also started a new series, ‘Den-City’ under which he painted historical landmarks of cities like London, New York, Zurich and Lisbon. But what makes his work appealing is the fact that he presents miniature forms of these large cities, whose size and structure is often overwhelming. In their scaled down version, they look like picture-perfect postcard versions of a city that is bathed in myriad hues. Elaborating on the challenges he faces in recreating any city, he says, “The first thing is to identify the identity of that city, and then the biggest challenge is to bring out the character of the city onto a canvas.”
In the city for his ongoing exhibition, ‘My Journey to Portugal – Prelude’ where 28 of his miniature watercolour paintings of cities like Lisbon, Sintra, Cascals, Obidos, Porto are on display, the 47-year-old artist talks about the process of recreation. “I first click photographs of the place and then fall back on my visual memory to recreate it on canvas,” he says.
Self-taught artist
A self-taught artist, he took refuge in painting when his marriage ran into the troubled water and it then pushed him into depression. Back then, drawing was a means to express, and to find peace within. He had an inclination for arts since childhood as his father was a painter and Deviprasad himself was active in theatre during college days. “But knowing that art pays you nothing, I never took it up seriously,” he says. Instead, he became a freelancer photographer.
“I gave up everything in 2004. Packed my bags from Pune and moved to Goa and started painting full time. Since then, I have not looked back,” he says.
Having no formal training in arts initially did bother him because he faced criticism for his works from critics who thought his works lacked forms and definition. However, he decided to turn these acerbic remarks into his favour by creating “rebellious compositions”. “I have the freedom to create what I want and how I want to do it. This, in fact, has allowed me to tweak my style and develop my own visual language,” he admits.
This rebellious attitude is evident from his constant effort to push boundaries and this he did by experimenting with various forms — from abstract to figurative and now architecture. His ‘Construction-Deconstruction (2008-11)’ series, an abstract composition, is a stark commentary on how concrete buildings have come up on forest land in Goa and how indiscriminately old buildings are being demolished. In his ‘Togetherness’ (2014-2016) series, abstract figures of humans emote the emotion of love and companionship and in ‘Buddha Series’ (2007-2008), there is an indirect reference to his teachings through abstract paintings. “I try to fuse realism and abstract together in my works. The abstract will always be my language of expression, but I also want people to understand and connect with my works. Since abstract paintings are difficult for viewers to understand, my ode to Portugal is an attempt to build a bridge between us,” he says.
(My Journey to Portugal – Prelude can be viewed at Art Gallery, IIC Annexe, Lodhi Estate, till July 26)