Way back in the 1960s, three months into a course at the School of Arts would have initiated the new learner into drawing fruits, chairs and the usual human model…and then, it is time for an evaluation. That becomes a do or die moment for one of the students there – B.D. Dethan. The usually calm and soft spoken head of the Painting Department hollers: “Who is Dethan?” A quivering 16-year-old walks down the examination hall, up to C.K. Ramakrishnan Nair's (popularly known as C.K. Ra) desk. The young lad's work is held out, and he is told, “Useless. This is no place for people like you. Get right out of the campus. No more of you here.” Reliving those moments 46 years later, Dethan describes it as the first turning point in his life.
Words of wisdom
“The choice of School of Arts was mine. As a young child none in the family had identified any special flair in me. I used to spend time in Chitralayam, pore over the works of Abanindranath Tagore, M.F. Hussain, Hebbar, Amrita Sher Gill and other artists whose works appeared frequently in the Illustrated Weekly of India . I had chosen to learn art at a time when it did not hold out the possibilities of a job beyond that of a drawing teacher in schools. Naturally, C.K. Ra's admonition left me shattered. I skipped my meals, spent a sleepless night and somewhere in the wee hours of the day I slipped into slumber only to be woken up by C.K. Ra's constant exhortation to us, ‘Draw, Draw, Draw.' He never held up names of the famous artists we should emulate, instead the mantra was to hone one's own style. Those words of C.K. Ra, ‘Draw, Draw…keep drawing' I hold dear to this day.”
If the realisation that he needed to pursue the form ceaselessly was the first step to improvement, there was the basic requirement that had to be met – continued supply of colours.
“I did start working hard but I was consuming a set of the pricey imported paint practically every week. There was the guilt of asking my mother for money, the princely sum of Rs. 3.50. The 80 paisa that was meant for my lunch at a Palayam hotel would be saved, and thus I kept the flow of paint coming,” was the way out for the aspiring artist.
While Dethan takes you along the path he travelled all these years, he reminds you that each turning point, the first being C.K. Ra's reprimand, has widened his horizon and introduced him to developments in art which would have remained out of view. “C K Ra's ‘Keep drawing' became the driving force. Then I found a mentor in the late M.A.U. Menon, whose advice, ‘You must understand what form is, before you distort it. Only then will it have its own beauty, power and have a life of its own,' was the gospel truth for me. Read good books, watch good films, good art and go through the journal Studio International , were his constant advice.” The artist cannot help recalling his ability to come down to the level of an impressionable 18-year-old.
Thiruvananthapuram in those years saw the emergence of a group of Sunday painters – Malayatoor Ramakrishnan, Dr. Madhavan Kutty, A.S. Menon, and Ivor Davis. Once in six months, the Trivandrum Arts Group (TAG) held exhibitions.
“Though not a formal member of the group I was greatly influenced by them. Further, that was the beginning of a 38-year-long association with Malayatoor Ramakrishnan who was a mentor, well-wisher, father figure and a friend, all rolled into one,” is how Dethan describes the impact of his association.
Kerala by then saw the return of artists schooled and groomed by the titan K.C.S. Pannikar.
Home-grown artists like Dethan and Rajendran continued to plough their own path and receiving awards from the Lalit Kala Akademi for several years.
According to Dethan an identity is created by sticking to a form but over a period the expression evolves and one moves on to new modes of expression.
It is in this evolution that one realises that there was an element of experimentation in every phase.
Enriching interactions
His idiom has drawn ample enrichment from the interactions with poet-litterateur Dr. Ayyapa Pannikar, adds Dethan. “My ‘Kali' series, though well-received, was something few would welcome into their homes and Sir was one person who encouraged me for the manner of representation I had adopted in those works. Meeting Pannikar Sir becomes one more milestone in my life.”
A relationship of over 28 years, which has seen the emergence of a group of Sunday painters under ‘Shabala,' and the establishment of the Suryakanti Gallery (13 years ago) in the city, has provided the much-needed space for aspiring artists, and exhibition space, both of which he has attributed to the continued involvement and support of former bureaucrat and artist Lizzie Jacob.
A satisfying journey has been possible because, “I have been able to dwell in the ivory tower while quotidian matters receive attention from my better half, Vasantha,” says Dethan, wrapping up the interview.
Evolution of an artist
B.D. Dethan and His Distinct Style – A Retrospective from 1970 to 2012, written by art curator Johny M.L., traces the evolution of the artist and his style as it changes with the passage of time. Sixty-four colour plates in the book reflect Dethan’s artistic journey. From abstracts to nudes to collages and ink drawings, nothing has been left out from his search for a visual expression of his own.
“As you know Suryakanthi, in addition to conducting exhibitions of paintings, hopes to promote publications on art. I had several ink drawings of mine that had not been exhibited and Lizzie Jacob, our trustee, was keen that we display those paintings and also get something written about it. That was how Johny came into the picture. But once he finished his work, it was an expansive one that covered a great deal of my life and work. That was when she decided to turn this into a spectrum of the different styles I have worked in,” says Dethan. The book was released on Thursday by auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan at the Museum Auditorium. An exhibition of Dethan’s works is on at the Museum Auditorium till April 18.
