Of myths and devotion

In his first solo show in the city after five years, artist V. Ramesh explores the idea of devotion and retells stories from the Ramayan, says Shilpa Raina

February 03, 2017 06:35 pm | Updated 06:36 pm IST

AN EYE FOR DETAIL “Saavdhan”

AN EYE FOR DETAIL “Saavdhan”

I want to entice the viewer into the surface of the canvas so that they understand what exactly is happening beyond those brush strokes. And, if my work allows them to introspect, my work as an artist is done,” says artist V. Ramesh.

His works, which usually are layered with several metaphors and hidden meanings, are being exhibited in a solo show in the city, after a gap of five years, at Gallery Threshold, and they do manage to draw the viewer in with the vibrant interplay of colours and for retelling a few episodes from the Ramayan in a meditative manner.

V. Ramesh

V. Ramesh

“I like referring to old mythological stories. I was familiar with them because my grandmother used to narrate them to me. So, I became interested and started reading different versions of the Ramayan. What is more interesting is that different versions have different interpretations of the same episode. So, I wanted to retell these stories,” says Ramesh.

But in this show, he isn’t merely retelling. He has re-imagined its three episodes — the starting of the epic, Sita’s abduction and Ahalya’s story— which he thought were crucial, and has put them in a contemporary context. For instance, ‘Saavdhan’, 7X5 oil on canvas, offers a multi-layered narrative in which King Ravana is dressed as a yogi and is begging for alms to trick Sita to cross the line. The reason, Ramesh says, he chose this particular episode was because it highlights how women in today’s time are often blamed for “crossing the line”. “It happens even in the 21st century…. This story is thousand years old, but nothing has changed. So, I thought this episode was a reflection of our actions and behaviour,” he says, adding he has referred to an old Ramayan for the illustrations that accompany the three paintings.

An idea that had stayed in his mind since 1992 was the demolition of the Babri Masjid which has now been translated into a painting ‘Genesis of an Epic’, an oil on canvas, which again, is multi-layered — not only in meaning but also in composition, and juxtaposes the cycle of life and death. “When the demolition happened, I realised that the story of the Ramayan is full of pathos, yet it evoked so much violence. This thought stayed with me,” he says.

So the painting depicts the story of sage Valmiki who, one day while travelling in a forest heard the cheerful chirping of two birds. This scene was pleasant, but short-lived, as a hunter killed the male bird. So the female bird started wailing. Valmiki, Ramesh says, was so moved by the entire scene that he cursed the hunter with so much pathos and ‘shok’ (sorrow) that when he started writing the Ramayan, it became its first sloka.

“Fallen Warrior”

“Fallen Warrior”

This is the first time that the Sanskriti Award recipient has taken to mythology for creative inspiration, however, he says, that devotion has been a recurring motif of all his works for close to a decade now. Even his previous series, ‘Sanctum Sanctorum: A Corner for Four Sister’ explored the work of four famed bhakti poets Lal Ded from Kashmir, Karaikkal Ammiyar from Tamil Nadu, Akka Mahadevi from Karnataka and Andal from Tamil Nadu.

Ramesh chose a quaint life in Vishakhapatnam over the city’s hustle-bustle when he decided to teach at the Department of Fine Arts, Andhra University in 1985. However, he never gave up his art practice, and continued painting to express himself. As he successfully maintained a fine balance between the two vocations, he often borrowed from the surroundings — sea and fishermen to paint his earlier works.

However, his artistic grammar changed significantly somewhere in early 2000 when he took a serendipitous bus ride to the ashram of guru Ramana Maharshi in Tiruvannamalai, near Chennai. This journey brought transformational change to his art as his idiom gradually started moving towards the themes of devotion and faith.

The show also features around 15 watercolour works exploring the idea of devotion and offering, but it is an unfinished self-portrait, which is the only work that isn’t new, in the current show that holds a significant meaning in Ramesh’s life. He had started working on it almost a decade ago, hoping to recreate his journey on the canvas. “I wanted to make it as a ‘recall’ painting that would summarise my journey. But that never happened. In fact, what happened was that the canvas started accumulating dust and memories at my studio,” he says.

“But, it has become a witness to my present journey. So, this work is significant and important in many ways. I don’t know when I will finish it, but I hope to do that in near future.”

Apart from this work, there are other things as well like an antique chair, brushes, palettes, a wall etching and a few other furniture pieces that have been sourced from his studio in Vishakhapatnam. This, according to Tunty Chauhan, owner of the gallery, is done deliberately to “give an insight into his personality”.

“Even though he has exhibited internationally and has featured in several publications, I felt that since he is shy and reticent, I thought it was important to recreate his studio space in the gallery to give people an idea about him and how he works,” she says.

(On till March 10 at Gallery Threshold, Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi from 11 a.m to 7 p.m.)

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