Gurudas Shenoy steeps his intriguing abstract paintings in rich swathes of earthy brown and smoky red, moss green and bright orange. These boldly shaped works feature cleverly layered landscapes and dense, crowded cityscapes.... His use of colours is inspired by his growing up surrounded by the beauty of the terrain in Udupi in Karnataka. A coastal town, the folk art forms of Yakshagana and Nagamandala present there; as well as works by European artists like Van Gogh and Rembrandt, etched themselves into Shenoy’s style. If colours form the language of his works, then geometry forms its script. Shenoy’s works are dominated by geometrical shapes which he sees as a reflection of his maturing artistic vision, noting “...an artist begin[s] to do abstracts when he finds more clarity in his work and is able to declutter the details.” Although he started with realistic depictions of landscapes and monuments in watercolours, it was his large-scale murals — many of which form prominent landmarks in numerous centres of the corporate world — that first gained him recognition. Since 2009, Shenoy has been working on his European and Hampi series – inspired by the spirit, sights, sounds, buildings and churches of Europe, the rocky terrain and temples of Hampi and recasting their wonder and zeitgeist in his colourful abstract canvases.

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