“The Bull is my muse - they epitomize masculinity and strength in both their physical and spiritual presence ”
Nellagi is an Indian contemporary artist. The vibrancy in Nellagi’s paintings depict his love for animals and also his spiritual devotion towards them. The visual compositions display the artist’s wisdom and understanding of man and animals’ co-existence and its relevance.
AG Nellagi is one of the few artists who had taken to the figuration of “Bull”, a complex figure with deep symbolism right from the outset. His focus has been on the expressive nature of this divine animal, translating the virtues into line and colour to create a visual poetry. Nellagi, being a farmer himself found bulls as integral part of his art and life at large since childhood. The bull is a symbol of level-headedness, stamina, fertility, stability, virility, strength, helpfulness, determination and confidence. The bull spirit guides unmatched strength, power and dominating presence across many cultures, warranting praise and worship.
In his paintings, beautiful gestures and postures of bulls fills the frame to give the viewer an experience of its spirit and reality. Nellagi’s paintings exude a sense of calm and peace. He depicts the relation of man, nature and animal in a very subtle, meditative and self-reflective way aiming to create a sense of pure aesthetics so simple yet very intense.