These Chennai artists are currently exhibiting at art shows across South Korea

Works by Gita Hudson, K Balasubramanian and KG Narendra Babu are on display at art shows organised by Gangneung Museum and Gangneung Art Centre

October 02, 2019 05:22 pm | Updated 05:22 pm IST

Gita Hudson’s art revolves around Indian art in its various forms. As an artist, her semi-abstract paintings draw from — and suggest at — musical instruments, temple art, architecture and more. As a filmmaker, her documentaries focus on artists and sculptors. The artist is one of three Chennai-based painters — along with KG Narendrababu and K Balasubramanian — who will be putting up their art at two separate exhibitions in South Korea over two weeks.

Organised by Gangneung Museum and Gangneung Art Centre, the exhibitions — featuring work by artists from Korea, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Japan — will be focussing on the themes ‘Meditation in Arts’ and ‘International Recycling Story’ respectively. National Academy awardee Narendrababu says he will be taking a total of six of his paintings to the two exhibits. His vibrantly coloured abstracts — some surreal, are all against blended backgrounds of multiple hues and feature birds, animals and other aspects of nature blended with human forms. “I just draw and paint what comes to my mind, from people to helicopters,” says the artist. Having said that, however, the idea behind his drawing styles is to celebrate life, and to encourage viewers to find new dimensions in his work.

That is something any viewer will find easy to do. For instance, in Narendrababu’s works, detail after minor detail, seems to leap out of canvas the longer one gazes at them. In Dream Rocks, people, animals, birds, trees and even entire little sceneries are bunched together in surreal positions against a hazy, dream-like backdrop, piled atop each other like pebbles or rocks, gravity and sense of direction going for a toss, even as birds flutter free overhead.

K Balasubramanian, on the other hand, is taking eight of his pieces to Korea: four themed on meditation, and four that celebrate art recycling. They are all part of his set of mixed media paintings on canvas, titled Anandam, and feature downward and upward pointing triangles, circles and lines in deep tones and greys, symbolically celebrating life and the circle of eternity.

Hudson is also approaching the concept of ‘recyling’, by revisiting the ancient temple murals of Tamil Nadu through paintings of her own. Her idea, she explains, is to contribute to “the conservation of the visual heritage of Tamil Nadu temple and mural culture.” Crimson dominates her body of work here: strengthening companion shades of fiery orange, yellow, pink and black; teaming up with a deeper red to surround a bejewelled woman lost in thought; or standing stark against more neutral backdrops, as if dripping through the canvas through etched faces and bodies. If the severity of her vertical brush strokes and dabs of black are any indication, Hudson’s work is certainly aimed more towards enlivening than inspiring calm.

None of these artists are strangers to international galleries, having done national and international shows for decades now. These works, however, are not restricted to Korean galleries alone — “we will be bringing them to InKo Centre and DakshinaChitra soon,” sings off Balasubramanian.

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