For an untrained eye, they mostly look like the scribbling of a child. Ball pens, ink pens, crayons and often watercolours have been thrown together to create some images that are rough around the edges. It takes a second or even third look to realise the underlying vision in each of them.
The Kerala Lalithakala Akademi with Seagull Foundation for the Arts has come up with an exhibition of ‘Sketches, Scribbles and Drawings’ by K.G. Subramayan, almost a year after he passed away.
The exhibition, inaugurated by noted art critic R. Sivakumar on Thursday, in the presence of the artist’s daughter Uma Padmanabhan, is a treat for art lovers in Kozhikode. K.G. Subramanyan, though born in Kannur, had spent most of his life outside the State, and had been a part of the art circles in the country for over seven decades. As a socialist and Gandhian, KGS was actively involved in the freedom struggle and had been in jail for his participation in the Quit India Movement. Being debarred from government colleges in Madras over this, however turned his life around. KGS moved to Shantiniketan in in 1944, where he met exponents of the new art movement like Nandanlal Bose, Benodebehari Mukherjee and Ramkinkar Baij. The trio sensitised KGS to the requisites of modernism. The artist soon developed a perspective on art which was based on the environment and life around him.
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KGS simultaneously pursued the varied roles of artist, designer and teacher. He lived in Baroda until he passed away in June 2016.
The exhibition features around 100 drawings in around 50 frames. He has used a variety of medium ranging from Indian ink to oil paints.
The exhibition will conclude on June 9.
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