In his fourth solo exhibition at Winchester Galleries, Manish Om Prakash presents about 35 paintings, both new works, and others from the past decade. Viewers will appreciate the development of Om Prakash's skill with rendering and mood, as well as the range of his inspirations, which include Classical Greek myth, Neo-Classical and Academic interpretations, Hindu cosmological figures, and modernist representations of friends. In a series of small oils on panel, such as Hercules, Pan & Psyche and Venus and Cupid he shares his pleasure in ancient Greek sculpture. The large painting, Ganesh depicts the duo-personality of this important Hindu god as a dancing couple, suggesting a Jungian interpretation of the meaning of this cosmic being. In Rest, a subtle academic study of late afternoon light falling across the model's back, the warmth of the sunlight is palpable. In Steve, the artist converts part of his home into a Grecian island grotto, and a friend wearing baseball cap and sports shorts, into a gently sleeping demigod. In Anna, the child daughter of a friend naps peacefully on a deep red quilt. Throughout the exhibition, a linking theme is the viewer's contemplative participation in the luxurious pleasure of solitude. - Brian Grison

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To Coco, my delightful, little playful muse who keeps me company at the easel.

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Continued in Gallery 2