It was an urge to come out of the commercial mould to an artist's free world that resulted in Sathish Nair's solo show at Durbar Hall Art Centre, gallery B. His 30 works give away his profession though.
Sathish has been in the ad world for 30 plus years as a visualiser, graphic artist, art director and more, working abroad and in a US ad firm based in Mumbai.
Why then a show in Kochi, you wonder. The Monkompu native, who has hardly lived there, spent his childhood here, as his father was in the Navy. That's why Kochi scored over Mumbai. “My school friends were all here for the inauguration, says the quiet artist whose friend, Pramod, based here, readied the pitch for the show and get together of classmates. “I met them all, about 15 of them after 32 years,” says a happy Sathish, who left Kochi to study in JJ School of Arts, Mumbai after schooling. He has won a few awards in the art circuit too.
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There is one other reason too, that he was taught art by K.K.Warrier Master of Ravipuram, who was teaching in Central School at that time. Sathish's show was inaugurated by him, his first art teacher.
The show is called Lavanyam, a journey through Nature. Green in all its soothing hues pervades the works in one hall while in the other, curvaceous women and pretty backgrounds that take you to the calendar art yug. A peacock and a woman in happy hues like yellows, oranges and lemon greens stands out. There are two kinds of women in these works. One is the pretty babe kind and the other, a carefully projected figure of the less privileged, with the moods realistically portrayed. One of these stay in your mind, of a woman with her tilak smudged, and through the window, in the rain, you see a figure moving away, and the dominant colour is night blue.
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The nature series in one hall is from different locations. The play of light and shade is pronounced with waterfalls, streams, boulders and trees in different greens on the canvas.
The medium is both water colours and acrylic. The acrylics give the feel of water colours. There is one work reminiscent of Kuttanad, going back to his roots. The sea also features in this section.
Sathish is planning another show in his hometown, Mumbai too. The price? Anything between Rs.10,000 and Rs 15,000. The show is on till Independence Day.