Sandwiched between two buildings off the bustling L.B. Road in Adyar, is a narrow, dim-lit passage that leads into a flight of stairs. In a small room on the first floor, sits a smiling old lady who sells mangoes. Next to her, is a little boy running a lone cycle tyre with a stick. A beautiful young woman in a half-sari and flowers in her hair, lights a lamp to his right. These people, who exist in flesh and bone somewhere in Tamil Nadu, have been immortalised as paintings in watercolour by artist S.A.V. Elaiyaraja. This is the studio where he creates masterpieces out of photographs from his travels around the State.
Rolled up canvases lean against a wall in a corner; books are stacked high on a small wooden table next to them; blobs of paint speckle the floor…It is here that brothers Elanchezian, Elaiyabarathy, and Elaiyaraja produce their works of art.
The brothers have silently been transforming the art scene in the city through their affordable art works that tell the stories of everyday people. While Elaiyaraja and Elaiyabarathy paint characters and scenes that strike them in some way, Elanchezian creates “contemporary Indian art”.
He moved to Madurai recently to teach fine arts. “We have a rich tradition that celebrates art. Our temples and palaces are testimony to this,” says Elanchezian. He believes in keeping off western influences in Indian art. “There is so much here to be inspired about. Why go elsewhere?” he asks. Also a sculptor, his works draw from Indian mythology and philosophy. He is a Ph.D. in Pallava art and architecture and has written three books and research papers on the subject.
Art runs in the family. Born to S.A. Vadivelan, a Government school teacher who sang, composed music, and also painted, it was only natural that the brothers took to art. “Father worked in various schools in villages around Gingee,” recalls Elanchezian. “He would paint verses by Bharathiyar and scenes from stories with morals on the walls of classrooms,” he adds.
The brothers often painted in rented rooms. “You know how it is in Chennai,” smiles Elanchezian. “We had to keep shifting places. We worked in areas around Mylapore for 20 years,” he says. Elaiyabarathy focuses on hyperrealism, a genre in which a painting resembles a high-resolution photo to the most minute detail.
Elaiyaraja’s works do all the talking for him. The soft-spoken artist talks about how he goes looking for subjects to paint with his camera. There are some scenes that call out to him; these, he paints back at his studio. White space is his signature — most of Elaiyaraja’s subjects stand at the bottom end of the frame, leaving plenty of white space towards the top. “The negative space enhances the painting,” he says. “It makes the subject stand out.”
