The unexpected nature of art

Unusual colours, shapes and textures reflect the emotions and philosophies of the artists displaying their works at the Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery

June 18, 2014 07:27 pm | Updated April 22, 2016 09:02 pm IST - COIMBATORE:

FOR COIMBATORE 17/06/2014:
"VIBGYOR 2014"Painting Exhibition held at Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery, in Coimbatore.
PHOTO S.SIVA SARAVANAN

FOR COIMBATORE 17/06/2014:
"VIBGYOR 2014"Painting Exhibition held at Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery, in Coimbatore.
PHOTO S.SIVA SARAVANAN

Tiny ceramic flowers decorate the two village men, sculpted by Koilpitchai Prabakar. The long petal-shaped eyes of his sculptures are arresting. “I am from Chennai and I derive inspiration from flowers that fall from the trees in the rainy season. Also, the idea of fish-shaped eyes that define Indian beauty fascinates me,” says the student of the College of Fine Arts, Chennai.

Prabhakar is one of the nine artists, who have showcased their works at Creative Hands, a painting and sculpture exhibition, organised by Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery.

A bronze horse gallops in one side of the gallery. The wires that represent the hair of the animal seem to flow in the wind. Another sculpture recreates the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.. A. Varuna Krishnan’s canvas is in blues, greens and yellows. There is but a hint of human presence. In one there is a lady in a swim suit enveloped by the waves and in another there is an abstract shape of a boy.

The vignettes of city life are depicted in the bright red canvass of Usha R, an artist from Bangalore. One of her paintings has autos as its central theme. In bright reds and green, her canvas is full of these three wheeled beauties. “I feel auto is an important part of the modern Indian life, she explains. “It is the most common mode of transport. You see so many vistas because of them. A lot of tourists explore India through autos.”

There is photography too. Two Rajasthani ladies, standing in front of a fruit shop, smile at you . The women bedecked in jewellery, stand out from their fruit vendor friends.

The halo effect

Far from the world of autos and fruit vendors, Lord Buddha meditates. Flowers are drawn all over his face in light colours. A few birds circle around him, pecking him on his face. Paintings of P. Vimalnathan are done on round plywood canvasses. “I chose the round shape so that it would break the monotony. Also, I wanted it to represent the halo around Budha.” Ashok Pachariyappan’s black and white frames feature woodblock printing. Ashok has done his under graduation in graphics.

Rooted in heritage

Most of his works champion preservation of our culture, heritage and Nature. One of his frames shows a round black circle filled with Tamil alphabets and mathematical symbols. It is his way of highlighting the importance of mother tongue in gaining wisdom, he says.

The riot of colours continue in the frames of N. Subramanian, also a student from College of Fine Arts, Chennai. His abstract works, painted with yellows, reds and greens, brighten up the gallery walls. When it comes to abstract art, Subramanian says, he believes in accidents.

“When I am painting a frame with a mix of colours, a layer of red might meld with a patch of yellow. Now that’s an accident; something I did not see coming. But that is the most beautiful moment of my art. And I should just leave it as it is.”

The artists who took part in the show are A Karuppiah, P. Vimalnathan, P. Ashok, A.R. Ramesh, Subramanian, Jeyasree, Usha R., Koilpitchai Prabakar, R. Karunaraj.

(The exhibition displays nearly 126 paintings and sculptures, priced between Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 5 lakhs. It is on till June 24 from 10 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.)

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