A fine mix of realism and abstract works is displayed at the ongoing art exhibition at Kasturi Sreenivasan Art Gallery. A half-face Buddha in earthy tones looks calm and serene. “It’s an experiment in light and shade and an inspiration from Budddhism,” says V. Jeevananthan about the painting. “We often try this style with faces of artists while painting cinema banners,” he adds. Jeevananthan, president of the Academy, has done cinema banners for a number of films before flex printing took over.
An ageing man sits back on a bench bathed in sunlight. R. Varatharajan, an art teacher in Mettupalayam, has titled the painting ‘sun bath’ and the man in the portrait is his grandfather’s friend. “He wore two shirts and always carried his walking stick,” the artist explains and points to the details on the painting.
Galloping horses come alive in N. Padmarajan’s knife work, done in acrylic. “Any artists’ journey begins with realism. As we progress, we freak out with abstract themes,” says Jeeva who specialises in portraits. His other painting in bluish tint has a lady plucking lilies from a pond. Is she drenched in the rain? “The rough use of colour creates that impact,” he explains.
Playing with shapes
V. Chandrasekar’s abstract Radha and Krishna has the influence of Picasso. “It is cubism and a play on shapes,” says Chandrasekar, joint secretary of the Academy. His acrylic work of a mermaid in aquamarine colours captures the underwater hues. Graphic designer M.S. Shanmugasundram’s painting of a Rajasthani girl making rotis is realistic. So is the brilliant ‘Boom boom Maadu’, a life-like water colour of young artist Santhosh, who has recreated it from a photograph which he clicked in Tiruchengode.
Art teacher T. Chinnaraj’s paintings are done on colour paper. “I choose the colour based on the theme and work on light and shades, the fundamentals of art,” he says and shows you the painting, done in rustic colours of an old man weaving a thatched mat. A tribal woman holds a pillar and reveals one side of her face in the work of Rajesh Kishore Jena, who is from Orissa. A caricature of Gandhi surrounded by an aura is a mixed media work. S. Ramprasad, an art director in films, gives a stylistic touch to his acrylic Krishna. He makes him faceless and allows the viewer to experience the emotion of music from his flute. B. Parthiban’s acrylic work of an old couple and life on the road are true to life.
There are pencil sketches of a Kathakali artist, abstract work of men escorting an elephant, a portrait of a goddess done by temple priest H. Sreedhar Joshi, a landscape of Anaikatty and a human scape (a mural-like work that plays on human body shapes) by P. Manickavachagam, who teaches painting at NIT, Trichy.
Some school students have captured flowers, birds, cartoons, and village life in their paintings. And, there are paintings done by their mothers too. The exhibition concludes tomorrow. Open from 10 a.m. All the paintings are for sale.
