An artist for over 40 years, there is little T. Kaladharan hasn’t seen in the constantly changing world of art. When he started out in the early 70s, in the flamboyant orbit of greats such as M.V. Devan and Namboodiri, art was to him a fierce passion. It still is, he says. At Nanappa Art Gallery, Orthic Creative Centre in Ernakulam, a show of his works is on in memory of artist Rajan Krishnan, who passed away in February this year. “Art, for me, has always kindled the same feelings within – the same earnestness, the same enthusiasm, the same satisfaction.”
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Through the ups and downs of creativity and life in general, Kaladharan journeyed with a sense of purpose. His volume of work is testimony to that. The current show is a throwback to his early obsession with bright colours. “Rajan used bright colours sparingly. His works generally tilted towards the grey spectrum. But my palette has always been bright,” he says. “Rajan was one of the artists in the younger crop whose works I admire.”
Out of the 39 works on display, 36 are on glass and are similar in treatment – abstractions of colour and forms. The uniformity almost seems studied, even if the paintings have been done over a period of five years or so. “There are these phases you go through, and a certain language for your art evolves during that time. After a few years, that might metamorphose into something else entirely,” he says. The colours as he emphasises are bright reds, lemon yellows, metallic blues and his personal favourite olive green. “I imbibed the sensibilities of the Madras School of Arts through my mentor M.V. Devan. And those who follow that style use a lot of mud colours – Indian red, ochre and olive green.” But when he started out on his own, Kaladharan freely experimented with brighter colours.
The series on show, titled ‘Vasantha Sandhyayil’, is a sort of an ode to spring. He had done a series inspired by spring many years ago and this is a re-interpretation of the season. The lines in the paintings form faces, limbs, breasts, depicting the relentlessness of the cycle of life. The medium does not really matter, but glass is one of his favoured mediums. He has worked extensively on it, even in the past and recalls an instance when sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman asked him what he would do if the glass breaks. “I was so consumed by my work that I had not even thought of the possibility,” laughs Kaladharan. He used to send his glass paintings for exhibitions in trains and had never had a broken work.
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Now, of course, he works on acrylic sheets, which can be used as a substitute for glass. “Working with glass is challenging, it is heavier, it can cut your fingers, it takes time to dry, but the colours shine through. I have always loved it,” says the artist who has experimented with water colour and coloured ink as well in the past.
Kaladharan has worked extensively with batik, and for a while, it was also a source of income, he says. Troubles with rheumatoid arthritis made it difficult to continue with it later. The erratic yet excruciating pain kept him away from painting for a while, but he bounced back, building sculptures that would add to the artistic landscape of Kochi.
Recognitions from the Akademi and peers were high points, but his daily interactions with students mean real learning. “I would say that still keeps me young.” Kaladharan was known for his ‘painting theatre’, a kind of performance painting that he started doing in the mid 80s, which took note of social issues and made people think. He does that a bit now when asked, he says. “I have my ways of performing. I wear special costumes for that, so that I don’t have paint all over. I take my own canvas. Oh, it is a very different experience.” Another of his quirks is tying up his long beard in a knot to prevent it from interfering with the palette.
Kaladharan paints during the day mostly, but of late, he has not been sleeping well and some of the works on display are those that have been done in the wee hours, he says. “I have not become very old, though,” he says.
The show is on at Orthic Creative Centre till June 26.