Badri Narayan is a self-taught artist who decided that he was going to be painter when he was 19 yrs old. Without any formal training he took up challenge after challenge, honing his inherent skill in the process. During the course of his career, he has dabbled with as diverse mediums as ceramic tiles and plates, mosaics, woodcuts and engravings.
The first public exhibition of his paintings was held in 1949, in Hyderabad, at the All India Art Exhibition. The Hyderabad Art society took adopted Badri Narayan as the face of their organization. His first solo exhibition of paintings was also organized by the Hyderabad Art Society, in 1954. Since then, there has been no looking back, till date he has held well over fifty solo shows.
Badri Narayan- the storyteller
Badri Narayans other passion has in a strange way merged with his vocation to make his work richer and more illustrative. His “other passion” is storytelling. His imaginative writings on art, folklore, mythology, short stories, verse, and tales for children have appeared in the press in India and outside. The fantastical world of his stories is reflected in his paintings.
Badri Narayan has conducted art workshops and story telling sessions to make his work more approachable and understood. He has taken the pains to narrate his stories to groups of children in the television studios, in schools, remand homes, and in institutions for juvenile delinquents and the handicapped young.
The versatile genius
As an artist he is always in the lookout for new avenues. He was in charge of the artwork and words for 'Tested Berries', a short film, (Films Division, Government of India, 1973). In 1975, a short Television film on his work, 'Call It A Day', was produced by Mumbal Doordarshan.
His experimentations with mosaic paintings and ceramic tile painting were quite successful too, his work ceramic tile mural and mosaic-on-glass panels for "Truth is God' Pavilion, Gandhi Darshan, New Delhi, 1969.
To his credit, Badri has never allowed himself to be constricted by any of the roles he has dabbled with, he plays them, they do not play him.
|
