What happens when seven artists from two different continents meet? You see the same landscape in seven different shades, same portraits with different tones. Their views of the world are so different but they still strike a chord somewhere.
And, this can only happen in the world of art where reality can be tweaked by splotch of colour here and a shade of pencil sketch there.
Traces of Journey, an exhibition organised by Art Houz, brought together artists Ameen Khaleel, Louimari Maudet, Teppo Valkama, Sidharthan, Subair. M, O.Sunder and Udayakumar TR. A few used modern visual medium, while others stuck to the traditional art.
An endless fascination with India could be sensed in the works of Teppo from Norway and Louimari from France. Teppo finds decaying buildings fascinating. It could be any old and forlorn structure that can catch his imagination.
“I find details interesting. Some people are offended and say that I am projecting the poor India. But, I am genuinely interested in old things. It’s my way of preserving these buildings,” he says.
Both Kochi and Paris are Louimari’s homes. He and Ameen own a gallery in Fort Kochi. His posters-cum-paintings called ‘What Are You Looking At’ have an eye staring back at the viewer. Torn cinema posters, peeling paint, dust, rust…the frames capture the passage of time so beautifully.
Louimari is a man of few words, and prefers to ask questions than give answers. He asks me to explain the meaning of the Hindi scripts on his posters.
Humour runs through the works of Subair. He also plays around with street posters.
His obsession with wildlife and humans exploiting Nature comes through in his works. For instance, in one, you see a cow eating film posters stuck on the walls.
“I retain the photographs as they are, but draw the animals into the frame,” he says. Irony is a strong motif.
In another work, you see storks flying into a fish bazaar to buy fish, as humans have caught all the fish in the sea.
Udayakumar and Sidharthan are convinced that urbanisation has wiped off organic life in Kerala. Sidharthan’s works evoke a certain nostalgia for the pre-modern Kerala landscape.
“There are no more villages now. I feel the village represented the transparency, virtue and humanity. All those values are gone now. The backwaters have been exploited to build flats.”
Art is a personal expression for Sidharthan, a professor of Fine Arts College, Kochi, to weave in the images of his house, garden and flowers.
Udayakumar is disillusioned with the world, with its betrayers and vileness. But, in every canvas there are the seeds that represent hope. “They could be the new generation who could change the world for good,” he says. His canvases are seven-to-eight feet in height. His Haunting Insight series depict mushrooms, a worn out ship; signs of decay and death.
Sunder loves shades of grey. He prefers that indecisive space between good and bad, black and white and light and dark while he is painting and also when interacting with people.
“Art is personal for me. I have many female friends who may have influenced me in my work in different ways. I see art as a transformative experience,” he says. His She Series focuses on solitary women in different life situations.
Ameen’s works reflect his transformation and evolution as a person from his activist days. “There is no good or bad in art, only interesting things, right?” he asks.
He also super-imposes photographs on his canvas to create a post-modern representation of self. One work has his identity-proof documents, with a hazy passport-size picture of the artist. There is no better way to engage with the question of identity.
He has also presented an interesting installation — a television screen showing a man climbing a ladder, repeatedly. This is juxtaposed with a painting of a ladder slanted against the wall.
After the expo, I went for an informal and casual tea with the artists. Each had different stories to tell me. Teppo says it is his 14th visit to India and the South, especially Kerala, fascinates him. “I usually do not talk a lot about my art. I prefer to leave it open to the viewers.”
Conversation with Sunder always meanders from art to stories from personal life. Louimari occasionally contributes to Ameen’s views on art and politics, while Udayakumar, Sidharthan and Subair prefer to listen. Ameen is the bridge connecting all of them.
“I cannot say what exactly binds all of us. But, at some point, our paths cross,” he says.
(The exhibition is on till February 20 at Jenneys Residency from 11.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. For details, call 0422-4335777.)
