When you step into artist V. Ramesh’s studio you enter a space that is peaceful, almost sacred. The room is full of canvases being given finishing touches in preparation for the India Art Fair in Delhi in the first week of February. Ramesh is an affable person and a gracious host and proves to be a man of varied interests. Poetry, music, teaching, reading and love for his spiritual guru Ramana Maharishi have all had a strong influence on his works.
Ramesh studied Fine Arts at M.S. University in Baroda and then taught at the Department of Fine Arts, Andhra University in 1985. He has been teaching there ever since.
He likes to stay away from the hectic social life that his contemporaries lead in the metros, he says, as he enjoys the pace of his life in Visakhapatnam as a teacher and artist. As a result he has developed away from the media glare and art market competition.
Ramesh says his works have been influenced by Carnatic music. He explains, “In Carnatic music, a good musician brings out not only the poetic and philosophical nuances of a given lyric but also sings it in many different ways to explore and reveal many new facets. Similarly, in my art I use this concept to layer my works with thoughts and ideas to reveal a deeper meaning.” He borrows ideas from traditional culture, medieval poetry, and mythology and often uses allegory as it allows multiple reading of the image depicted.
He says that one’s journey of existence and work run parallel, influencing each other. This is how his work has changed over the years as it has been influenced by his personal life, experiences and readings of Advaitic philosophy.
His current solo project Sanctum Sanctorum: A Corner for Four Sisters comprises 17 large canvas paintings (8' x 4' each), which will come together to form an enclosed space at the India Art Fair. In this project Ramesh explores the work of four famed bhakti poets Lal Ded from Kashmir (14th century), Karaikkal Ammiyar from Tamil Nadu (5th century), Akka Mahadevi from Karnataka (12th century) and Andal from Tamil Nadu (5th- 8th century) , who were divided by time and geography, yet have been united by their actions and poetry. Ramesh’s works endeavour to extend the capabilities of the painted image to convey the emotional and devotional ideas of the four poets. “My attempt as a painter is to translate the written word to the possibilities of the painted image,” he says. Ramesh has been fascinated by the poetry of these women because of the nature of their acts – they all left home to spread their poetry and musings on divinity.
They eschewed earthly ties like marriage in the face of great opposition, risking their lives and surrendering their place in society.
Ramesh brings out these themes in his 17 frames. He combines the poets’ verses with his portrayal of them to truly bring out what they stood for. He is working against a deadline as the fair is just a month away but is eager to see whether his concept will make a connection with the visitors.
Need for space
Ramesh has exhibited his works across the country and abroad but only once in Visakhapatnam, though he has lived here since 1985. He cannot find a decent well-lit gallery to exhibit in the city, he says. He feels that the authorities need to create exhibition spaces so that a culture can be developed for people to learn and appreciate art. Only a handful of people in the city actually know about art, appreciate it and read about it, he finds, a situation that can be changed if there is a good gallery in town. Ramesh hopes for changes in art education as well. It is no longer enough, he feels, to just be able to paint a pretty picture. A painting needs to convey an idea. Students of art need to read more and travel so that they widen their horizons, which will make them more expressive on canvas. He also says that a classroom needs to have people from different backgrounds to interact with and learn from, which is not possible under the current ‘quota system’.
