Realistic portrayal of life, Nature and objects of everyday use is apparently considered unworthy of representation in art. Yet there are artists who pursue the time-consuming style. An artist, pedagogue and textile designer, A.Z. Ranjith has maintained this realistic trajectory in his works. He is an alumnus of Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai.
In his 60th year, Ranjith holds an exhibition which displays 60 works. It also commemorates the diamond jubilee of his artistic trajectory. The works on display are diverse — oil, dry pastels, mixed media, pencil drawing, acrylic, sculpture and photographs. There is no specific theme and the style is strongly academic, except for a few works that are geometric abstractions. Academic realism in this age of globalisation cannot be wished away as it forms the fundamental premise of an artist's creative expression. The strong realism in Ranjith's works borders on tenebrism with its extreme play of light and shade, which also enables three-dimensional modelling of form thus investing it with character. His self-portraits are striking in this technique. They have verisimilitude, impacting the viewer's sensibility.
The compelling effect of realism is observed in Ranjith's subjectivity with his accurate and objective description of the ordinary world. It marks his positivist thinking in the introduction of realistic elements with emphasis on the phenomenon of light, engagement with photography and the application of new technologies such as the huge digital print of the Nandi, originally rendered by him on the wall of the mandapa of the temple. Ranjith apparently has set the goal of artistic achievement with his accurate depiction of the models that Nature and contemporary life offer him. He does not negate the idea that ordinary people and everyday activities are not worthy subjects for art. As a matter of fact, he brings alive on his canvases the ordinary, the humble, and the unadorned. As a realist he prefers observation of physical appearance over imagination, subjects are represented in a straightforward manner without embellishment.
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Besides self-portraits, his still life has Chardinian echoes particularly in their matted texture and in the kitchen objects. In a still life with apples and other objects, a drop of water is rendered with such optical realism that the initial response is to touch it. Similarly, there is a drop of water on the leaf which is the background of the same composition.
As a textile designer who has researched the textile tradition of South India, in particular, there are three works with compositional arrangement of fabrics that are randomly spread. These are rendered with super realism creating the illusion of the fabric which is not painted but rather placed on the surface of the canvas. The rendering of the fabric with its detailing of folds and crushes literally invites the viewer to touch and feel it. This strong tactile quality remains the hallmark of his works. In addition to the macro representation of the humble objects of everyday use, Ranjith offers a micro examination of flowers such as the rose rendered with similar sensitivity to texture, colour and appearance.
The show is on at Lalit Kala Akademi till September 26.
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