One of the first works that greets you as you walk into M Senathipathi’s exhibition ‘An Ode to Life - Manickam Senathipathi’ at Gallery Time and Space is a black and white, pen and ink work titled ‘Couple’.
The absence of other colours in the painting, somehow makes the work more stark, and the emotion of human love the artist has sought to express, in his characteristic, textured, overlay of figures and geometric shapes, that much more palpable.
This is not to say that the other paintings in the exhibition, most of which convey human emotions in their varied distortions and positive expressions —‘Insecurity’, ‘Mother and Child’, ‘Affection’, ‘Fire’ and ‘Hide and Seek’ — are any less vivid in their expression. Senathipathi seems to have developed the art of building contrasts that complement each other.
“All my work is related to human behaviour. Insecurity is a recurring theme because I feel there is no security in the world,” says Senathipathi.“You can feel the insecurity in the work, it appears as though people are crying.”
Senathipathi is one of veterans of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village, with a steady artistic practice spanning more than 50 years. He has exhibited his works across the country and parts of the world. The artist is presenting his works in Bengaluru after a gap of over 34 years.
Some of his paintings in his ‘Insecurity’ series have earlier been made in another of his signature mediums — metal relief. He has since moved onto paintings and drawings.
Though his painting is a two-dimensional piece of work, the scene he paints almost animatedly unfolds in front of the viewer, like a hologram or a portal into another world.
And though he brings a whole spectrum of colours into this window, look closely and you will see that the palette is still somehow uniform across the series.
The lines in the figures, in keeping with the style of the Madras Movement, are both clear and equally fluid. They are abstract, yet full of the emotion that the artist imbues or seeks to express in them.
His work, as is known, is also inspired by the ancient Indian temple architecture and sculptures of the styles of Belur, Halebid and Ellora (some of which he visited during his college trips to the heritage sites).
The geometric figures that play out on the canvases (or handmade paper) are a result of the artists’s love for Cubist representations, which, as he emphasises are rendered in his own interpretation. He also sometimes picks out mythological themes — of Ganesha, Radha-Krishna and the Ardhanarishwar, even Jesus, interpreting them through his artistic perspective.
“That is my style, that is the speciality of my work. Some artists draw a line and call it a painting. I want to tell a story through my work. Though these are abstract works, there is meaning, there is a title to each work.”
He believes that his works must evoke interest in the viewer. ‘An Ode to Life - Manickam Senathipathi’ will be on view at Gallery Time and Space, The Guild, First Floor, 55, Lavelle Road, until March 3. For details, call 22124117.
