An Artist and a Poet
Hailing from a small village,Vemavaram in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, born to an artist Shri Venkateswarlu in the year 1944 and domiciled in Hyderabad since 4 decades, Dr.Valluri Venkata Swamy (popularly known as V.V.Swamy) did more than 1,000 paintings in water/oil color in both traditional and modern styles on various themes. A few of his paintings appear alongside. Notable among them are:
Dr. V.V.SWAMY
My Village, Rocks, Electric Power(Graphics), Nehru and his vision, Nature and Environment, Hyderabad-400 years, Diamond Jubilee of Indian Independence, Ganesha.
To his credit, there are sixteen one- man shows of paintings in association with U.S. Information service, Guntur; International club, Hyderabad; Alliance Franchise, Hyderabad, Art Folio, Chandigarh etc. He had participated in Group shows held in Hyderabad in 1972, 1973, 1974; "Three Decades of Art in A.P".in 1975; 2nd all India Contemporary Miniature Biennial of Andhra Pradesh Council of Artists in 1977; International Exhibition of Cartoons organised in Yamouri Sheibun, Japan in 1980; World Telugu Federation Exhibition 1996; Telugu University- 2nd state wide exhibition 1997; Annual Exhibition of Hyderabad Art Society in 1998, 2000, 2001; Telugu University 3rd state-wide exhibition in 1999, 2000; All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, New Delhi- 2000 etc. etc….
Mr. Swamy had developed an unique craft of egg-shell engraving in the country for the first time and engraved the portraits of important national and international dignitaries like Sarvashri Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Sastry, Dr. S.Radha Krishnan, Dr.Zakir Hussain, Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, V.V.Giri, R.Venkataraman, Richard Nixion, President Reagan, Dr.Gustav Husak, Breznev, Edward Health, Bill Gates and many more on the egg-shells and presented them to the respective dignitaries.
Honours and Awards
He had received "Maga Citizen award-1997"; "Ugadi Puraskar-1998" from Delhi Telugu Academy besides many other Awards in the field of Fine Arts and was honoured by:
On the literary front
also he has made his contribution as a poet.. He has written a number of poetic and
historical research books and lyrics, illustrating with artistic sketches. Some of the
books written by him in telugu are (i) Maa Vuru (ii) Parisaralu- Parirakshana (iii)Velugu
Baata (iv) Bhagyanagaram etc. etc…
An illustrated book in poetry written by him in English narrating the 400 years history of Hyderabad titled as "For Hyderabad" fetched him an Honorary Doctorate in literature from the prestigious"World Academy of Arts and Culture (USA)" conferred at the World congress of Poets held in Sydney (Australia) in 2001.
Excerpts from the
Opinions of Distinguished Personalities
"Swamy’s
colors are vibrant, his lines sharp and details vivid. His forte lies not only in the
artistry of his work but his attitude towards the subject – a thorough exploration of
the subject is fastidiously probed, the information is combined with an innate poetical
quality and the composition finalised with great conviction. When he treats nationalistic
subjects like Nehru, Gandhi, freedom and independence, he involves patriotic fervour,
while historical subjects like the history of Hyderabad are treated with an yearning for
the life of the erstwhile rulers and historical ruins of Golconda. His rural compositions
have a pastoral quality and intense feel for everyday strife and beauty in the villages.
And when Swamy
painted the Ganeshas, he had done through research on the iconography and mythological
stories abounding the Ganesh. The paintings show an animated energy flowing through the
dancing lines and emotive colours. The Ganesha in spite of his bulky body, enlarged ears,
small eyes, prominent trunk has a harmonlus beauty coming from within. He is depicted in
16(shodasa) images in oil paints as a graceful dancer, as a musician as Vijaya Ganapathi
riding on a rat, with his consort van-durga on his lapas, as vera Ganapathi with multiple
hands holding various weapons ………….. Each canvas with a semi-abstract
form of Ganesha is treated in differing moods, created through a variety of pulsating
colours.
His abstracts are multilayered, in clear compositions, the brilliant colours flowing in and out of suggestive forms. Here the subject is not restricted to pastoral elements, but the visuals of the city like the flyovers and electric wiring are dealt with vigorous energy. The rocks of Hyderabad are impressively colored and textured in his own imitable style. While some artists relay on skill, others explore life with an imaginative prowess, Swamy tries to mix the two with an added strength of thorough inquiry into his themes."
(Dr.Avani Rao Gandra, Art Historian & Critic)
(Collected, composed and designed by V.Madhusudana Rao, Hyderabad)