Throughout history, the idea of place has evolved through travel writing and literature — maritime accounts of journeys across seas, artistic renderings of the contours of spaces, known and unknown, lived or otherwise have all contributed to the notion of place and helped materialise narratives. Sometimes however, these narratives become fixed. New York, Paris, Mumbai and now Chennai, are all portrayed in certain light. Chennai in particular is forever represented as an eclectic mix of tradition and modernity. But is it just that?
For its 379th birthday, Shalini Biswajit at Forum Art Gallery, curated an art exhibition titled ‘Chennai. A dual emotion in Abstraction and Figuration’ featuring artists and contemporaries A Visvam and N S Manohar. The idea was to bring together two artists with similar experiences and training, who yet had completely different perspectives about the same subject — each being the other’s muse as well as competition.
Traffic, Mylapore and Marina Beach were the parameters within which they could work. At first instance, it seemed a little dissuasive. Wouldn’t having let the artists interpret the city been a more suitable endeavour? Marina II for instance, is a set — one of Visvam’s and one of Manohar’s — canvases of the same size that depict a scene at the beach. Being a figurative artist, Manohar’s pen and ink piece is easy to identify. Uncomplicated in its gesture, it renders in watery strokes a group of women selling eatables by the sea. A catamaran with a number of fishermen unloading the day’s catch forms part of the background.
Viswam, being an abstract artist, depicts the very same scene in a completely different manner. A turquoise background with cobalt blue and white strokes fills the canvas in its entirety. Only a dash of yellow and red, along with the whole work being set in dialogue with Manohar’s rendering of the Marina beach would give an idea of the content of the piece.
Traffic II is yet another instance of their contrasting styles and takes on the subject. Manohar’s piece is almost like a sketch. Diagonally aligned to the right, the crowds are arranged in varying positions and as enacting varying activities — some driving rickshaws and autos, others squatting and selling their wares, some entering temples, and others holding umbrellas.
The canvas is packed with the postures and gestures of a crowd with a hint of a blue wash for the sky.
Viswam’s canvas on the other hand, portrays a sense of chaos — noise even. Black and white strokes made with a palette knife fill the centre of an otherwise empty canvas. The only vaguely recognisable elements in his piece are the red traffic signal and a green figure standing at the edge — outside the frame of his anarchic strokes.
“I knew that Manohar being a figurative artist, would deal with the subjects in a straightforward manner. But Visvam has been an absolute delight. I wanted the juxtaposition of their two styles to bring out something new about the subject,” said Shalini when asked about her idea of showcasing them together. And indeed, it is within the space of their two diverging approaches that the audience would find something riveting — a reminder that what we call Chennai, is a perpetually changing being.
The exhibition will be on at Forum Art Gallery, 57, 5th Street, Padmanabha Nagar, Adyar, till September 15, 10.30 am to 6.30 pm. For details, call 42115596.
