Paul’s lovely sketches of Bengaluru’s Swinging Seventies have been chosen by the Department of Posts for postcards and a special cover
A cartoonist, illustrator or an artist equipped with a brush for story telling? As one walks into Paul Fernandes’ studio and gallery, aPaulogy in Richards Town, one comes across several examples of his talent.
The outer walls has a series tracing Bengaluru’s transition from a pensioner’s paradise to the garden city and then the overcrowding thanks to the IT boom. In another corner his art is tucked into old window frames picked up from a junk yard in Shivajinagar. Inside the gallery, one is overwhelmed with the range of Paul’s works displayed on walls, racks and tables. Doors, mugs, coasters and bags sporting prints of his cartoons and illustrations are aesthetically showcased.
A resident of Bengaluru since 1948 when he was born, Paul highlights the city and its life in his works. The artist uses colours to enhance his story telling.
Beyond black and white
“I don’t keep my illustrations in black and white. I use colour and words to strengthen and communicate. My style is an extension of not only art that I studied at the Faculty of Fine Art Baroda but also sensibilities I absorbed from my mentor Peter Colaco, a musician and writer, who chronicled Bengaluru in his book,” says Paul as he takes you through his drawings.
For 71-year-old Paul, showcasing the city through art was more about highlighting the lives of the people who make up Bengaluru. “I work towards a style that can adapt, grow and be refreshing. It is a process where a cartoon looks like a painting. One has to look at the painting longer to enjoy their perspective. This bridging of space makes the cartoon a story-telling exercise,” says Paul whose illustrations are known for their descriptive clarity.
His art works cover the coast of Mangalore and parts of Kerala and Goa too.
There are thousands of illustrations in watercolour that depict not just a languid, sleepy Bengaluru but hangouts in a gentle city – essentially the swinging 70s, unpolluted, dreamy in its outlook, with tree lined roads.
“I want to provoke a happy, heady conversation amongst people. I hope people come up with their own stories after they see my art,” says Paul.
Paul owns a studio in Mumbai too as people’s response to art he says is equally forthcoming there.
“I travelled from Mangalore to Kerala by scooter to observe people in the outskirts. The chemistry in Bengaluru, Mumbai or Goa has its own flavour. Looking to bringing them all out is what makes my illustrations different,” he says.
Paul’s illustration of the old BRV Theatre or the Bangalore Rifle Volunteers Canteen on Cubbon Road has multiple images that collectively bring out the mood of the era. “Ideas have to be drawn into compositional poetry,” he says. In the 1970s Paul found Ulsoor Lake and Vidhana Soudha giving him the required peace and quiet to work. “When you draw Vidhana Soudha, it is good, but when you add ‘built in 1956,’ it gets friendlier.”
Other memorable illustrations include those of MG Road with Chit Chat ice cream parlour and the photo studio, EGK & Sons, a horse-drawn tonga at on South Parade, the bustling Koshy’s of 1952, Plaza Theatre and Victoria Hotel.
“Be it Chor Bazaar in Mumbai or Airlines Hotel in Bengaluru, every space has its ambience. Sometimes I prescribe myself ‘people-less’ days to reflect, recharge and focus,” says Paul.
What defines his art? “Humour that I see in every situation, even in dry buildings,” says Paul explaining that this mood helped him zero-in on the name aPaulogy for his gallery.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Art / by Ranjani Govind / August 28th, 2019