It is the second day of the Coimbatore Vizha. The atrium of Brookefields is ablaze with colour. Paintings are lined on the floor of the room — artists from across Tamil Nadu have poured into the mall with their creations.
Hailing from Chennai, Coimbatore, Puducherry, Thanjavur, Ooty and Tuticorin, these artists associated with the Lalit Kalakshetra are in town for Ovia Sandhai, a day-long exhibition of paintings.
The works are in a variety of media — oil, acrylic, pen and ink, pencil, charcoal and watercolour. Landscapes, portraits and modern art — they all have interesting tales to tell.
Pragna Shah who came to have a look around was pleasantly surprised by the wide variety of artwork on display. “If I had to award a prize, I would give it to the painting with the single lotus blooming in a pond. The water looks so life-like,” she says.
It is obvious that the artist, who has done a lotus series, has fallen in love with the beautiful flower.
Young Abdul Ryas loves to paint tulips, roses, bright sunflowers and landscapes. “I am from Ooty. I have grown up seeing these beauties in full bloom,” he says. This is what he translates onto his canvas.
Last year's prize winner for the best painting at ‘Ovia Sandhai', B. Venkatesan from Chennai prefers realistic art. He takes photographs of real life things which he later paints onto his canvas. His 4 ft x 3ft painting of a villager with a camel in the deserts of Rajasthan, complete with the shadow of the villager is detailed and looks almost like a photograph.
Pandiselvam, who hails from Karaikudi is inspired by the traditional doors and windows typical to his region. His Chettinadu and Karaikudi window and door series has a unique embossed effect that he accomplishes with the aid of a knife. “I have not used a brush, only a knife,” says the artist. He has also affixed tiny nails onto the door to give it a realistic touch.
Bright and colourful, traditional Karnataka puppets warring with each other on a chess board is a unique creation of artist Selva Senthil Kumar.
Final year B.Com student from G.R.D College, Nivedha Devraj is also participating in the exhibition. Her canvas is filled with dots. Called stippling art and done with pen and ink, she has created a collage of animals on her canvas. K. Bhaskaran's boat series in watercolours is a splash of purple, blue and green. M. Raja has also made interesting sketches in pen and ink.
Mathi, who hails from Coimbatore, takes the South Indian village as an inspiration for his paintings. He dwells on the relationship between a mother and child too. For example, his painting of a beggar woman carrying a child is from something he saw right here at Gandhipuram.
Almost 40 artists showcased their work at Ovia Sandhai. “More artists will be coming in during the course of the day,” pointed out Raviraj, Director of Lalit Kalakshetra, Coimbatore.
At the end of the day, a prize will be awarded to the best painting.
The Hindu is the media partner for the event.
