B.G. Magendran's love of art finds expression in both the sheer size and scope of cinema, and in the freedom of fine art, of art for art's sake.
“Over the years, I've divided my artistic urges,” says Magendran (known popularly as ‘Magie'), a cinema art director, who has completed over 85 films since the 1980s, including “Guna”, “Baasha”, “Muthu” and “Sathi Leelavathi”.
“While working with cinema sets, you get an extra dimension because its scope and size are so vast. But with one's own paintings, there are no limitations, no restriction to the theme. These works are totally mine.”
With his latest solo exhibition at the Laburnum and Indigo Galleries at the Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art, Magendran says his personal artistic expression has shown a marked evolution.
“These works are very different from my previous ones, and are abstract and a little surrealistic,” he says. “They're based on the forms of Hindu deities, described in a linear style.”
This linear style is part of his artistic heritage, since he studied under some of the best teachers of the style while at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, and did a lot of ink drawings during that period. “I've tried to bring out that quality in acrylics, creating a lot of texture,” he says.
An important part of this collection is the depiction of light, which tries to capture the look of glowing temple lamps. For this art director, it's all part of his ongoing efforts at experimenting with art outside the constraints of cinema, to create nothing but what he feels like creating and what he feels his canvas needs.
The exhibition is on till March 9.
