Here is an article I wrote based on inputs from Pa Ramachandran, sculptor and Asian Studies scholar and my visit to Kazhugumalai, about 50 km from Kovilpatti
click here to see the article.
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
04 December 2011
18 April 2011
SIGN - an art show
Sign, an art show conducted by a group of fourteen young artists at Indigo and Laburnum art galleries in Cholamandalam Artists Village, Chennai... draws to a close today.
The artists have taken a fresh approach to conveying the signs of conflict in life today. Predominantly influenced by the metro and its intrusion into our minds, the artists have tried to capture in images this very intrusion using new media and mixing techniques.
The tip of a cigarette smokes away in the room corner - an illusion caught on red board and cottonwool.
swimming figures from an installation, a pool with dying fish, fashioned out of a log...
You copied my tree of life! is a painting that causes the viewer to reflect on ownership and possession...
The sculpture of matchsticks reflects on post-retirement blues... a bizarre state of mind heaping on the floor charred matchsticks...
A painter searches for peace within the leaves of a forest tree...
Experience is just baggage - is the visual claim of one artist who displays an installation of a bag laden with bits of coloured paper...
An artist has the role of stirring the minds of a civilization and making them stop in their blind hurtling rush towards development. Sign - has the impact of the artists' effort.
The artists have taken a fresh approach to conveying the signs of conflict in life today. Predominantly influenced by the metro and its intrusion into our minds, the artists have tried to capture in images this very intrusion using new media and mixing techniques.
The tip of a cigarette smokes away in the room corner - an illusion caught on red board and cottonwool.
swimming figures from an installation, a pool with dying fish, fashioned out of a log...
You copied my tree of life! is a painting that causes the viewer to reflect on ownership and possession...
The sculpture of matchsticks reflects on post-retirement blues... a bizarre state of mind heaping on the floor charred matchsticks...
A painter searches for peace within the leaves of a forest tree...
Experience is just baggage - is the visual claim of one artist who displays an installation of a bag laden with bits of coloured paper...
An artist has the role of stirring the minds of a civilization and making them stop in their blind hurtling rush towards development. Sign - has the impact of the artists' effort.
24 March 2011
Art Shows in Chennai
Perhaps in a move to dynamise the art scene in Chennai, there are a huge number of exhibitions going on in chennai - Paintings sculpture, installations etc...
Today I visited two expos - one at Ashvita and the other at Lalit Kala Academy. It was strangely moving to see the art objects. The Ashvita one was a bit disappointing because the catalogue showed some works which were not in the gallery -- they had been exhibited at Hotel Taj Coromandel I believe... yet many younger artists were exhibited and it was fun to see them trying to depict the unusual - A room with ears stuck all over the walls... conjured up an image of facebook, where so many silently take in what you post!
There was an artist who freaked out on a pink pig. I can understand wanting to depict what is looked down upon but the pig was so much of a cartoon pig, that it did not really evoke anything.
Benitha's work with cottonwool and brown ink was reminiscent of her own earlier work but touching nonetheless.
Next was a visit to LKA. This was a much larger one with many more works including sculpture, paintings etc. I did not make a detailed note of the names and titles of works, but all the sculptures and most of the paintings were very powerful images.
Man- woman; desire; persona; sexuality were the themes of most and very strong images, natesh's drawing from the female eunuch was a strong statement, for example.
Some artists had used words, which I could not understand why, but the other aspects were stunning and I could, even uninitiated, touch a small part of what the artists were trying to convey.
There were a few movies and the one "laughing at the sine curve" was really touching.
Outside LKA was an installation of 3-D pictures depicting the Union Carbide tragedy; with sound effects too, which was a great attempt.
Today I visited two expos - one at Ashvita and the other at Lalit Kala Academy. It was strangely moving to see the art objects. The Ashvita one was a bit disappointing because the catalogue showed some works which were not in the gallery -- they had been exhibited at Hotel Taj Coromandel I believe... yet many younger artists were exhibited and it was fun to see them trying to depict the unusual - A room with ears stuck all over the walls... conjured up an image of facebook, where so many silently take in what you post!
There was an artist who freaked out on a pink pig. I can understand wanting to depict what is looked down upon but the pig was so much of a cartoon pig, that it did not really evoke anything.
Benitha's work with cottonwool and brown ink was reminiscent of her own earlier work but touching nonetheless.
Next was a visit to LKA. This was a much larger one with many more works including sculpture, paintings etc. I did not make a detailed note of the names and titles of works, but all the sculptures and most of the paintings were very powerful images.
Man- woman; desire; persona; sexuality were the themes of most and very strong images, natesh's drawing from the female eunuch was a strong statement, for example.
Some artists had used words, which I could not understand why, but the other aspects were stunning and I could, even uninitiated, touch a small part of what the artists were trying to convey.
There were a few movies and the one "laughing at the sine curve" was really touching.
Outside LKA was an installation of 3-D pictures depicting the Union Carbide tragedy; with sound effects too, which was a great attempt.
11 June 2009
Madras Buys Art!
Yes, Chennai opens out to literature, theatre groups, koothu, folk dance, sculpture and films... what used to be the pursuit of intellectuals hastening in a semi-daze to Delhi or Bangalore after their dreams of rivalling Hussein's handiwork is now open to all...
The greatest permanent fixtures to have taken place are the two statues installed around Gemini circle... The one on Kalari Attam (which is now a favourite with film makers, too) is something that can engage the viewer for hours. This was sculpted by master sculptor
S. Chandrasekharan and his students of the Madras College of Art, last year.
I have heard the master speak extensively on the Uzhaipaaligal Silai and how the figures depicted in it have seemingly impossible postures, considering the power required of the act the sculptor had made them perform. I wondered then how he would do it if left to him...
Kalari is a magnificient piece of work... we look forward to seeing more of his work around the city.
---SD
The greatest permanent fixtures to have taken place are the two statues installed around Gemini circle... The one on Kalari Attam (which is now a favourite with film makers, too) is something that can engage the viewer for hours. This was sculpted by master sculptor
S. Chandrasekharan and his students of the Madras College of Art, last year.
I have heard the master speak extensively on the Uzhaipaaligal Silai and how the figures depicted in it have seemingly impossible postures, considering the power required of the act the sculptor had made them perform. I wondered then how he would do it if left to him...
Kalari is a magnificient piece of work... we look forward to seeing more of his work around the city.
---SD
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