b. 1964 -

For a Shoranuri (born 1964) and a rather soft-spoken Keralite, Murali has traversed an inspiring journey in both “space and time” - on and off the canvas. He graduated from Kerala University, Trivandrum(1984) predominant for its radical ideology at that time. In fact, he had a tryst with the leftist ideology, for a short span though. In 1985, he had his first solo show at the University art gallery. He then moved to Hyderabad in 1987, and later got into a masters program in painting (University of Hyderabad) in 1991 where he happened to meet Laxma Goud and D.L.N.Reddy. But, a change of place was like a boon to Murali. A drastic change from a shrouded and close-knit landscape in Kerala to vast, rocky and open landscapes of the Deccan, it was as if he found a Fort Knox of inspiration. It is this intense passion for spaces that is reflected in his works.

After masters, a two-year scholarship took him to Kanoria Art Center. Here he showed his work along with Walter de Souza and Karl Antao in 1994, and the same year he received “Inlaks” take off grant forwarded by Manisha Parekh. The next year his work was shown in the “The Drawn Image,” an exhibition curated by Rekha Rodwittiya at the Cymroza Art Gallery. This show included Anita Dube, Karl Antao, and Vijay Bagodi.

He participated in several shows in India, significant ones being a two-member show at ICCR gallery, Hyderabad and Varanasi with L:.N.V. Srinivas, a show along with “poets against communalism” at Hyderabad and the silver jubilee exhibition of Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai.

In 1997, he received Junior Fellowship from Ministry of H.R.D. for two years and the works produced were displayed in an exhibition titled “Form and Space.” He attended several workshops and camps including the camp at DRDL, Hyderabad with scientists, a printmaking workshop organized by Lalit Kala Academy Regional Center Chennai, 2000 and, Genesis- an exhibition of sketch books and maquettes. In 2006 he has participated in separate shows curated by Nemiraj Shetty, Johnny M.L. and Ramani Nambiar, al at Delhi.

Having been a teacher, dealing undergraduate students of Art and Design at NIFT, JNTU and Rai University he was invited for a month-long interactive program with postgraduate students of painting at the University of Hyderabad.

This apart, he worked for two years on a two-minute animation film consisting of over 2000 color drawings inspired by the Cosmos- ‘Big Bang and Me’ (2004). The animation in this film seems to be an extension of his paintings, each frame a painting on its own yet boisterously fused and animated.

His collaborative work with scroll painter Vaikuntam (Andhra Pradesh) on a mural measuring 9ft x 5ft in multilayered glass in 2006 offered him a new direction. The effects of flat color in dileanating spaces and to create depth was just the beginning. It later had led to a new line of research and work resulting in a body of paintings. In 2007 a solo show of these works titled- ‘Dreams’ was put up at Shristi Art Gallery, Hyderabad.

This ongoing process of inquiry with abundant inflow of ideas continue to engage Murali and the viewers alike with breathtaking landscapes, or “spacescapes”.