Sunday 31 May 2015

Murale Cheeroth


Artville Artist Of The Day 
Murali Cheeroth
Untitled
Oil On Canvas
42 X 60 Inches
2008

Murali Cheeroth, through his works, reveals his concern about physical and psychological aspects of violence that pervades contemporary reality. This over-forty Bangalore-based artist has seen life’s differing contours closely. Born in a small village in Kerala he developed interest in art since his early days. After acquiring Diploma in Painting from Govt. College of Art, Trissur in 1987, he left for Shantiniketan to complete his BFA and MFA in Graphic Art. His next stop was Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal where he stayed for a year before proceeding to Kanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad first as a resident artist and then as a faculty. Murali who has taught at College of Architecture, Ahmedabad and National Institute of Design has, since 2000, made Bangalore his home.

Murali has held several solo and two/three-person exhibitions besides participating in group shows in different cities of India as well as Sophia (Bulgaria), Bangkok, New York, Durban, and Dubai. Murali’s recent paintings seem like vignettes of an erupting city. The artist’s past involvement with theatre and continuing interest in cinema helps him present his images through unusual perspective and dramatic ambiance.

In his paintings, the human figure holds a sense of mystery. Isolated and enigmatic, its profile is either partially seen or intentionally blurred. Harshly illuminated by a flood of colorful neon lights, it seems to be living on the edge. His forms come across with sweeping brushstrokes shaping fleeting images of the mechanical superficialities like in his ‘mise-en-scene’ series. Man is relentlessly engulfed in his interactions with the mechanical machines, ignorant of a conscience that may lead to an eventual irreparable havoc.

In several instances, Murali grasps the gait and movement of uniformed men, who are seen casually carrying weapons. There is an inherent sense of violence in all these works but the socio-political implications are carefully controlled and subdued. His idiom is stronger and the strokes fast and frenetic, quite like city life. The urban tribe, children of displacement, living in an emerging world, with new problems and new thrills are effectively delineated on the canvases using unnatural, hybrid colors like neon hues and halogen tones. "There are no natural colors," points out the artist at the use of this modern palette, a contemporary color scheme.

The story Murali Cheeroth is telling is clearly of this citizen who's finding his bearings in a new space. There is a feel of centrifugal speed, of spin, of motion adroitly created by technique and the works leave you stirred. The artist's creative zeal does not stop with a painted thought process but carries on with interesting captions. He feels, “A viewer feels very comfortable with an untitled work but a caption gives him a lead.” A clever way with words for a work is this caption: clockwise from below left. There is a sense of excited movement in the work. Most contours are hazy and brisk as identities get lost in a city and new faces emerge.
The artist lives and works in Bangalore.
Suruchi Khubchandani
courtesy:shrineempiregallery

#art #painting #contemporary #artville #muralicheeroth#artistoftheday

Saturday 30 May 2015

Jitish Kallat

Artville Artist Of The Day
Jitish Kallat
Syzygy (The Cloud Bearer's Rotation),
2013
Sculptures, Dental plaster 
48 x 33.1 x 7.1 in
Jitish Kallat (Indian, b.1974) is a painter, sculptor, photographer, and installation artist best known for work that celebrates the city of Mumbai, using a visual language derived from popular advertising. Born in Mumbai, Kallat studied painting at the Sir J.J. School of Art, and rejected his training in Modernism and abstraction to create early works based on references to the billboards and popular culture of Mumbai. Kallat portrays the socio-economic and political circumstances of the city in a way that emphasizes its liveliness and resilience. His Dawn Chorus (2007) series, for example, shows street urchins with hair that forms a web of traffic and pedestrians; he mounts these paintings on sculptures made from wall decorations found in a 120-year-old train station in Mumbai. Kallat’s photographic work includes a series called Cenotaph (A Deed Of Transfer) (2007), which documents the demolition of a row of slums, suggesting the progressive but sometimes brutal consequences of modernization in Mumbai. Kallat’s Public Notice Works (2003–2010) series—large-scale installations that displayed Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech of 1947 on a reflective surface, Mahatma Gandhi’s 1930 speech on fiberglass letters, and Swami Vivekananda’s speech during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition on LED displays—were shown at the Art Institute of Chicago. Kalla’s work has been exhibited at the ZKM Museum in Karlsruhe and the Tate Modern in London, and his work is held in several collections, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Saatchi collection. He lives and works in Mumbai.
courtesy:artnet
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎sculpture‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎artville‬ ‪#‎jitishkallat‬ ‪#‎artistoftheday‬

Friday 29 May 2015

Bose Krishnamachari

Artville Artist Of The Day
Bose Krishnamachari
GHOST DROPS
2006
Acrylic on canvas
48 x 48 in.
Krishnamachari works in striking and dynamic abstracts, and with figures seen through saturated lenses. Even in his photography and multi-media installations, color is a dominant force. He says, "I refine my color to brightness. I have learnt this usage from the alternately subdued and lavish color codes of Indian ceremonies and ritual performances; the costumes, the gestures of enactment..."
In addition to being an artist, Krishnamachari curates exhibitions and projects. He is driven by a desire to support the younger generation of Indian artists.
courtesy:aicon
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎painting‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎artville‬ ‪#‎bosekrishnamachari‬‪#‎artistoftheday‬

Thursday 28 May 2015

Subodh Gupta


Artville Artist Of The Day
Subodh Gupta (Indian, born 1964)
Title:Two Mechanized Cows, 2014
Medium:Sculptures, cast bronze, chrome plated
Size Notes:two life-sized Royal Enfields
Subodh Gupta (Indian, b.1964) grew up in Bihar, one of India’s least economically developed states, and received his BFA from the College of Arts and Crafts in Patna. Gupta had already been working as a sculptor and painter for several years when his gallery, Nature Morte, exhibited the monumental bronze steel installation Gandhi’s Three Monkeys, made out of antique utensils, at Art Basel in 2007. He received great international acclaim for the piece, and later that year presented his sculpture Very Hungry God, a giant skull made out of stainless steel tiffin pots, in front of the Palazzo Grassi at Canal Grande, parallel to the Venice Biennale.
Gupta’s transformation of everyday objects into art installations has become characteristic of his work, playing on clichéd images of India’s rapidly changing society. Though he is best described as a sculptor, Gupta works with a variety of media, including painting, photography, and video. In identifying Indian icons that possess innate dichotomies, such as a colonial-style ambassador’s car, sacred cow dung, or the stainless steel utensils of a typical South Asian kitchen, Gupta questions the ambivalence of a society caught between traditional customs and globalization, booming wealth and impoverishment, and old caste politics and religious beliefs. Gupta, who is currently regarded as one of the most successful contemporary Indian artists, lives and works in New Delhi.
courtesy:artnet
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎sculpture‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎artville‬ ‪#‎subodhgupta‬ ‪#‎artistoftheday

Wednesday 27 May 2015

JMS Mani

Artville Artist Of The Day
JMS Mani
Badami Series
Mixed Media on Mount Board
18'' x 18''
2013
Though seemingly simple, Mani's images are representative of the people of Badami. Using his canvas he portrays them as they carry on selling their bananas and ballons. He brings out their strength of character and beauty in the midst of their mundane and hard life.
Courtesy:mahua

Tuesday 26 May 2015

Riyas Komu


Artville Aritst Of The Day
Riyas Komu
Oxygen - An Illusion
2002
Oil, enamel and marble grain on canvas
41.5 in x 65.5 in
Riyas Komu was born in 1971 in Kerala, and moved to Mumbai in 1992 to study literature. Dropping out during his final year, Komu eventually obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Fine Art from the Sir J. J. School of Art in 1997 and 1999 respectively. Since his graduation, Komu has been constantly asserting and pushing himself with a strong body of work.
The artist’s oeuvre, spanning several different media and genres, is particularly noticed for its strong political overtones. His paintings, to put it in his own words, carry a protest symbol one way or the other. He has remarked, “I strongly feel it is my duty to be political. I believe that my paintings should look back at the viewer rather than just tell a story or hang on the wall.”
Influenced by his father’s political leanings and his own brief associations with political student groups, Komu is keen on using his work to “ring alarm bells” about the explosive urban situation he encountered in Mumbai. His body of work references the paradoxes of the urban situation, where on one hand, there is glamour, and on the other, abject poverty. Creating his pieces with equal doses of compassion and cynicism, Komu’s work reflects both hope and dejection – a tribute to the spirit of all those who continue to survive the city and its paradoxes.
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎painting‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎artville‬ ‪#‎riyaskomu‬ ‪#‎artistoftheday‬

Saturday 23 May 2015

Azis TM

Artville Artist Of The Day
Azis TM
Untitled
Water Color On Paper
2006
30 x 22 in
I grew up in Trichur, Kerala, famous for its many temple festivals. For a child, Kerala is one of the best places to develop as an artist. Stunning landscapes that blossom quite naturally on your canvas the moment you dip your brush in paint surround one !so it was, I guess, natural to move to Thiruvananthapuram to my Bachelor’s in Fine Arts, and equally logical to move from the extreme south to Delhi for my Master’s! As an artist, exhibitions are an essential part of life. Solo and group shows have been regular since those college “chai-samosa” days. Shows that brought friends and critics to my studio, with appreciation and suggestions, alike they continued to inspire my experiments with figures. Some of my creative out pourings have adorned their homes and offices. Quite a few have become friends. But most others have a part of me – for a true painter is as attached to his works as he is to his children. Even though I don’t know them as intimately as I would have liked. Living and working in Bangalore, I suppose just doesn’t permit me the time to get to know all my aficionados. Perhaps in another time, another place I wistfully think, perhaps I will know them eventually, perhaps not yet I am content a part of me lives with them.
courtesy:artmajeur

Friday 22 May 2015

Atul Dodiya


Artville Artist Of The Day
Atul Dodiya
Black Moon
2002
Enamel paint on metal roller shutters and acrylic and marble dust on canvas
Total external dimensions: 108 x 72 x 14 in
"The roller shutter has served Atul Dodiya well as a surface for his paintings, alongside canvas and paper, for little over a decade now...Calibrated at various levels, half open, three-quarters shut or fully lowered, these shutters presented the viewer with a varying ratio of concealment to disclosure; but in every case, the metal shutter receded from sight beneath the weight and power of the image it carried...These images of roller shutters are neither austere conceptualist devices, nor abstract depictions of hardware pared down to its mechanical logic. Rather, they are themselves Dodiya paintings: images shaped from images, hand-crafted from surprising collocations of pictorial and textual data drawn from diverse sources, surfaces annotated with extracts from the artist's copious private archive of references." (Ranjit Hoskote, "Dodiya Standard Time: Reflections on Malevich Matters & Other Shutters", Vadehra Art Gallery Exhibition Catalogue, New Delhi, 2010, pg. 51)
courtesy:saffronart
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎artville‬ ‪#‎atuldodiya‬ ‪#‎artistoftheday‬

Thursday 21 May 2015

GR Iranna

Artville Artist Of The Da
GR Iranna,
Tempered branches 3,
2013,
Acrylic on tarpaulin, 
66 x 72 in
Iranna, a mixed media artist, working mainly with painting, videos and sculptures, explores the inherent containment and freedom of the time and space boundaries. His works are highly philosophical bordering on post-modernism, looks at the innerness of man and the existential crisis of modern life.
courtesy:artsome
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎painting‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎artville‬ ‪#‎griranna‬ ‪#‎artistoftheday‬

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Hema Upadhyay


Artville Artist Of The Day
Hema Upadhyay
Untitled
Acrylic, gouache, dry pastel, graphite & photograph on paper
72" x 44"
Hema Uphadyay lives and works out of Mumbai, after having completed her art education from Baroda in 1997. This is a publication featuring recent works from a solo exhibition held by the artist at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute in 2008. She constructs visual binaries of nature and culture, incorporating sculptural wood formations and fragmented metaphors. Her recent work comments that the apologies and apologetic explanation given to serious tragedies and violence throughout history and politics cover up the most essential issues, just like a daily greeting would ignore the serious problems between people.
courtesy:vadehraart

Tuesday 19 May 2015

Prajakta Palav Aher


Artville Artist Of The Day
Prajakta Palav Aher
Untitled
Acrylic on canvas
60" x 72"
2011
Prajakta Palav Aher paints every detail from a multitude of photographic references that she has archived over the years. The candid medium of photography allows her to unpretentiously penetrate the many aspects of middle class life in India, and capture its varied truths.
Her works in acrylic on canvas depict images from her own background and reflect the insecurities and complexities of middle class life. With great skill and photographic perfection Aher paints pictures of fake plastic flowers adorning doors and staircases; newspaper stacks lying behind wooden cabinets; suitcases and bags perched on top of the cupboard; torn papers and documents covered in plastic sheets filling old wall units; and the iconic image of Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, traveling the routes of an everyday commuter.
Although the artist’s portrayals are realistic, they do not come across as documentaries but instead, allow the viewer to realize the disposition of the situations, and find humour in them.
courtesy:saffronart
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎painting‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎artville‬ ‪#‎prajaktapalav‬ ‪#‎artistoftheday

Saturday 16 May 2015

Vivek Vilasini

Artville Artist OF The Day
Vivek Vilasini
Between one shore and several others (after the Incredulity of saint Thomas by Caravaggio)
2014
Archival print on Hahnemuhle Archival Paper
40 x 43.5 in
Born in 1964, in Trishur, Kerala, Vivek Vilasini trained as a Marine Radio Officer at the All India Marine College in Kochi, and then obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Kerala University in 1987 before turning to art and studying sculpture from traditional Indian craftspeople.
In his work Vilasini examines our existing social structures, adapting various expressions of cultural identity prevalent in society today to raise questions about the continually changing global scenario that every individual struggles to keep pace with. Vilasini’s large-format photographs evoke delicate ironies that impact existing ideologies, and influence the cultural and social consciousness of the viewer.
courtesy:saffronart
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎Hahnemuhlearchival‬ ‪#‎print‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎artville‬ ‪#‎vivekvilasini‬‪#‎artistoftheday‬

Thursday 14 May 2015

Sudarshan Shetty


Artville Artist Of The Day
Sudarshan Shetty
No Title
(from "this too shall pass")
carved wood, electro magnetic mechanism, steel sword, mild steel
354 x 278 x 106 cm
2010
Sudarshan Shetty has been regularly creating artworks since 90s and mostly works on sculpture and installations. His work envisions a lyrical world full of playfulness and freedom liberated from political issues. It displays an intriguing combination of the representational and the abstract.
The Fukuoka Asian Art Museum invited Sudarshan Shetty for the series of exhibition, 'Contemporary Asian Artist' in September 2001. In the exhibition, the installation consisted of chairs, a desk, boats, stringed instrument, airplane, all with mechanical device and movable. In the installation composed of those objects 'For Here or To Go', Shetty created a new kaleidoscopic story. In the 'Amusement Parlor' created by him, anticipation for future possibilities as well as anxieties for irrationality and unknown precincts, or eeriness behind contemporary society and amusements were projected.
The artist strives to escape from the social framework, and at the same time, tries to collect scattered fragments of daily life. Through the process of editing and applying these (fragments), he superimposes various facets of contemporary society. In fact, though formally trained as a painter, Shetty progressively became interested in sculpture and installation, and began to combine his paintings with found objects that he painted. In 1996 he attended a sculpture workshop in Scotland that resulted in a spontaneous showing of swiftly executed watercolors; sketches in which the predominant leit motif was that of a carrier bag embellished by whimsical images and memories of the surroundings.
His art-world reflects contemporary urban life. By stimulating the memories of people's childhood and their playful-mind filled with curiosity, he cleverly escapes from the globalism that homogenizes the world and innocently plots to overthrow the value system led by politics and the economy.
courtesy:saffronart

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Murali Cheeroth

Artville Artist Of The Day
Untitled 1
Murali Cheeroth
30 x 66
Oil on Canvas
Murali Cheeroth was born in Trissur , Kerala in 1966. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts and his Masters of Fine Arts from Kalabhavan, Santiniketan in 1992 and 1995 respectively. He has received several awards including the Merit Scholarship, Kalabhavan, Santhiniketan, in 89-94, the Cultural Scholarship 1993 & '95 awarded by Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi, Kanoria Scholarship for Print Making 1997 and Kerala State Lalit Kala Academy Award 1997-98.
Murali's most recent solo show was "Unmarked" at Gallery Viart in New Delhi in 2009. He has also participated in two person and group shows in India and abroad including most recently "Passage to India Part 2 - from the Frank Cohen Collection" at Initial Access, UK in March 2009. He has participated in the National Exhibition, Bangalore in 1997 and New Delhi in 1998, the All India Biennale of Rajasthan 1997, the State Exhibitions, Kerala State Lalitkala Academy in 1996-97 and the 1995 Eastern India Print Biennale, Bhubaneshwar. Murali has also conducted various Art workshops and is involved in theater and performing arts as well. Murali's works are in various collections both in India and abroad.
Murali Cheeroth lives and works in Bangalore.
courtesy:crimsonartgallery

Tuesday 12 May 2015

Bose Krishnamachari


Artville Artist Of The Day
Bose Krishnamachari
Untitled
2007
Ball pen and screen print on canvas
72 x 72 in
Of history and its tales
Anupa Mehta responds to Bose Krishnamachari`s new works
The French artist Christian Boltanski once remarked: "The task is to create a formal work that is at the same time recognized by the spectator as a sentimentally charged object. Everyone brings his own history to it."
Possibly Bose Krishnamachari`s current project as an artist too is to present the viewer with a trigger point of images/icons that can, (along with the formal construction of painting/installation), function as symbolic devices with which to speak of an entire culture, its shifting mindsets and, its eclectic borrowings.
Born in Kerala in 1963, Bose recently completed his MFA from Goldsmiths College, University of London. His work, thus reinforced by a `here and now` understanding and awareness of contemporary culture, borrows effortlessly from various disciplines, including literature and design, and time periods.
This current body of work spotlights figures (and by dint of association, cultures) as varied as those of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera, the Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, and Rabindranath Tagore. Spirituality, epic style and (in Kahlo`s case) a focus on the self as means to explore larger concerns, are some features that engage the viewer. However, it would be a mistake to read these works as "tributes" to the icons, as Bose uses the device (in this case, figures from art/history) more to draw attention to his own project.
Interestingly, Bose pays as much attention to form as he does to conceptual and/or contextual concerns. Startling planes of flat color juxtaposed against skilful, almost photographic, representations of identifiable persona, imbue the work with an `international` sensibility. Bose admits to combining western image-making techniques (such as the installation) with the vernacular, in a bid to arrive at an idiom that is entirely contemporary and brisk.
In an earlier interview, he has said: "I refine my color to brightness. I have learnt this usage from the alternately subdued and lavish color codes of Indian ceremonies and ritual performances; the costumes, the gestures of enactment..." The current body however, brings with it a whiff of minimalism. There is little room for excess. But the minimalism is effective.
courtesy:saffronart
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎drawing‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎bosekrishnamachari‬ ‪#‎artville‬‪#‎artistoftheday‬

Sunday 10 May 2015

Riyas Komu


Artville Artist Of The Day
Riyas Komu
Systematic Citizen - XV
2006
Oil on canvas
84.0 x 60 in
Brought up in a Marxist household in Kerala, Riyas Komu was heavily involved in political activism during his student days. Moving to Bombay in 1991, the year that the city was brought to its knees by religious rioting, he was deeply affected by the violence he witnessed. It is not surprising, then, that Riyas Komu’s art is frequently confrontational, engaging the establishment in protest – both explicit and implicit – against political violence and socioeconomic inequity. By bringing the oppressed and victimized into sharp focus, the artist’s oeuvre, including sculpture, installation, video, photography and painting, aims to push the contented viewer out of his or her comfort zone.
In his series of monumental canvases titled Systematic Citizen, Komu has painted close-up portraits of the migrant labourers who work for a pittance at a garage near his studio in suburban Mumbai, each with a unique tale of survival to tell. Here, the artist leverages the dimensions of his surface not to alienate his viewers, but rather to draw them into an intimate exchange with his lone, magnified subjects in an effort to record and validate their unheard stories. “His work is often in-your-face, large and seemingly unfettered by practicalities of realisation, akin to theatre. His portraits are often stark, staring at you with frank gazes, like they’d tell you their history, their hopes, their reality, if only you asked. That is what Komu seeks– that the viewers ask, because it only could mean they care” (Bodhi Art website, accessed July 2010).
courtesy:saffronart
‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎painting‬ ‪#‎contemporary‬ ‪#‎riyaskomu‬ ‪#‎artville‬ ‪#‎artistoftheday‬

Friday 8 May 2015

S.G.Vasudev

Artville Artist Of The Day
S.G.Vasudev
She,
45x75cms,
2001
This morning I am at Vasudev’s studio in Bangalore, looking at an assorted collection of his work done over three decades. Paintings, drawings, copper relief, and tapestries on the muted grey walls spark an exciting kinesis. Sunlight streams into the room, lending it an opaque incandescence that seems to complement the luminosity of his work. The chronological and thematic jumble in the studio provides an opportunity for viewing his work without the controlled order that curators and galleries bring in.
The first thing that strikes you is that creative time is hardly impacted by the linear tick of the clock. Time, as it is measured in the flow of ideas, in the tides of the imagination, or in the seasons of the mind seems to be free from such tyranny. At a cursory glance so little seems to have changed; yet much has. There has been the slow, undulating motion of artistic growth. You notice subtle changes: the colours and tones have altered somewhat and even the ways of seeing have been transformed ever so gradually.
For Vasudev, 40-plus years of art have moved in a more or less unhurried flow. There have been no abrupt detours, no startling about-turns. Vasudev has always worked with an easy rhythm that emerges from self-assurance.
In the 1970s, when he first began working on his theme, Vriksha -- the Tree of Life, it was as if a carnival was unfolding. Vriksha, a metaphor for the primal forces in creation, simply inflames the canvas with its vibrant energy. Life is feted in an unabashed, pagan way. His Tree of Life appears to have a cavernous appetite that absorbs almost everything that enters the orbit of its vision: monkeys, alphabets and signs, birds, men and women and myriad motifs that he draws from folk and ancient lore. The colours he uses are warm and earthy: Mellow yellows, ochres, amber oranges and moss greens. The Vriksha keeps metamorphosing into new shapes and forms. Sometimes its roots morph into men and women in the act of love, unselfconscious and consumed by the moment. The women are daughters of the earth: sensual and erotic. Vasudev seems to stress the fact that, though the images and forms differ, the spirit remains constant.
This is further elaborated in Maithuna, another idea that Vasudev has explored for over three decades. Maithuna stands for the union between the female and the male principles -- the prakriti and the purusha -- that exist in nature, almost in a yin-yang fusion of being. Maithuna and Vriksha usually intertwine to create a kind of animated utopia in which an atmosphere of total abandon prevails.
In the late 1980s the festive mood dissipates into a deadened, inward-looking phase. The works of this period shock us with the near total eclipse of light. The early effervescence is lost to bleakness as nature appears to have vapourised into nothingness. Men and women with eyeless gazes, looking away from each other, are banished into a chilly dystopia. The colours are dark and swirling, thick daubs and bristly rough edges of cobalt, brisk grey-black strokes and morbid green smears. They echo the disembodied silence that prevails inside the canvas. This period in Vasudev’s art coincides with a tragic period in his personal life and seems to reflect his own sense of loss; it is at this point in time that he loses his artist wife to cancer.
The ‘Humanscapes’ series is almost like a sequel to the mood. Vasudev probes the labyrinthine streets of the mind and follows endless trails of darkness. At this juncture, the ‘actors’ -- for that is what his protagonists turn into -- seem to be more alienated than ever. Their eyes congeal into eerie, airless gazes. The colours he uses are menacingly dark and the canvas almost incarcerates every trace of light. In the Earthscapes series we see the deadness only getting more exaggerated through arid landscapes with clusters of amputated trees. Gone are the pastoral paradise of Vriksha and the naïve innocence of the Maithuna series.
This reverie of darkness is not very prolonged, however. It is almost as if Vasudev, with his natural predilection towards exuberance, cannot contain despair for too long. Packed under the skin of desolation is a need to surface for light once again. When he sheds that last shred of angst he surges ahead with a good deal of élan.
Although change is an important aspect of his work, it is always held tight by an inherent consistency. Change and stability -- the two collude and corroborate. Romantic and realist, dreamer and pragmatist, the creator and the spectator -- Vasudev revels in this pull of paradoxes. He enjoys the contradictions that characterise our world, perhaps because he understands better than many of us that duality is not opposed to harmony.
In the 1990s this is how we see him: taking a new look at things where the summery gaiety that once characterised the early years returns and plenty of sunny yellows, lime greens and pastels flood his canvas. In the He & She series, and in a new set of Earthscapes, there is a newfound playfulness and the darkness thaws considerably to let in a variety of luminous colours. A sinuous energy glides back into the work. All this, once again, coincides with events in his personal life.
Yet it is not as if he is returning to the arcadia of the Vriksha phase. Things have changed irretrievably. This is obvious in the ‘Theatre of Life’ series, where he returns to the business of life with the zeal of a new convert, but not without some restraint. He stands at the rim of his canvas, allowing it to mime the world outside -- its follies, its self-deception, its little vanities. He does a good parody on our performance on life’s stage, where we are sometimes able to pull off our act but, at other times, are caught literally in the act.
In a set of drawings called ‘Hayavadana,’ done in the early 1990s, he uses the mask of a horse to depict the absurdities of politics and the dishonesty that prevails in public life. Vasudev’s spry wit and gentle humour create great moments of laughter on paper but he never gets bitingly harsh. He looks at the societal morass with a non-judgmental eye, merely as an artist portraying what he sees. His ‘actors’ are seasoned veterans on the stage of life. They wear their masks well. The thick impasto strokes give a kabuki-like feel of theatre. Curtains, pleated folds, borders and frames enhance the theatricality of the canvas.
In his more recent work, the actor is relegated to the background while the spotlight is on the audience: the spectator in the act of watching. The stage becomes a metaphor not just for life but also for the mind. Who is the actor and who is the spectator? That is what the artist seems to be asking, slyly. It appears that he is having a little laugh at all of us who turn into narcissistic voyeurs of ourselves.
Vasudev’s themes often spill into one another and they reappear over and again, like old refrains. The Vriksha turns up to meld with the Earthscapes. The Maithuna and the Theatre of Life converge at some point. It is, therefore, no surprise that today Vasudev’s work is close to his work of the early 70s. He uses similar lyrical lines, the feathering out of images and the clear, brilliant colours that were used then. This merging of images and renewal of ideas give his work both freshness and familiarity. When you see a new Vasudev work, you recognise a familiar motif and yet there is always something new. The Vriksha never regains its guileless gaiety but it does acquire a new intensity. Vasudev recounts how years ago, at the time when he was starting out in his career in the early 70s, it was imperative to search deep into the past for new ideas. This paradox describes his idiom well.
Over the years Vasudev has also worked on a series of Ganeshas. Ganesha, the beloved elephant-headed god, possesses a form that is intriguing and mysterious even to his most steadfast devotee. The head of an elephant superimposed onto the body of a rotund, pot-bellied human seems, at first glance, a wacky anomaly. However, Hindu legend is replete with symbols and allegory. Nothing is as it seems, least of all external appearances. The Ganesha form is a symbol for Om -- the primordial sound that reverberates through the universe -- and is said to be the seed of intelligence. In the Hindu order of divinity, Ganesha is the first to be worshipped. He also signifies both worldly and spiritual success. The form of the elephant-headed god has always inspired artists in India. Ganesha is believed to be responsible for the awakening of artistic consciousness: the flowering of music, dance, art and literature.
Vasudev works on Ganesha from a purely artistic perspective. He moves along with this beautifully pliant form to create images that are unconventional and aesthetic. He uses copper, silk tapestry, ink on paper and oils on canvas to depict Ganesha. While he eschews the religious angle, his Ganesha images have a powerful visual impact that borders on spiritual intensity -- which is why, he says, he has discovered to his amazement that his Ganeshas are worshipped in many a collector’s home!
Working in copper, Vasudev makes good use of rich ornamentation. We see the ear of the Ganesha, large and fan-shaped, embellished with intricate relief work. The opulence of the metal gives these Ganeshas a look of grandeur and regality. In his paintings, Ganesha has a more ethereal look. The lines are fluid and free and the colours vivid. Ganesha is almost an esoteric idea on his canvas. In his silk tapestries, Vasudev uses the lushness of silk to create an impression of thickly layered images. This goes well with the essential concept of Ganesha: the metaphors that have sustained layers of meaning for centuries.
Throughout his career Vasudev has worked in several media at the same time. Most of his themes flow from one medium into another, usually following a chronological consistency. Often this creates interesting results. The He & She theme can be quite startling in a tapestry. The texture of the silk and the suppleness of the weave add a new dimension to the ideas he explores on canvas. The natural flamboyance of copper lends itself easily to drama and hence a theme like the ‘Theatre of Life’ pulsates with life on copper. The glow of copper articulates with deeper resonance a certain tone or a nuance of an idea. Interestingly, a painting often resembles a tapestry and a copper relief looks like a work on canvas.
Vasudev enjoys the collaborative experience of working with skilled craftsmen. For his tapestries he has worked with master weaver Subbarayulu for over a decade. For his copper relief work he relies on his partnership with V. Chandran, who has worked with him for over two decades. He enjoys the experience of team work and says the experience of sharing ideas with other creative minds has enriched the way he approaches his art.
This interest in collaboration has led to his borrowing from and contributing to other media and arts: literature, theatre, cinema and crafts. For example, in the 1970s, when Indian cinema was moving away from popular, formulaic, repetitive themes, Vasudev served as art director for a number of films belonging to the ‘new wave’ in Kannada cinema. A few years ago he did a set of line drawings (ink on paper) based on the work of A. K. Ramanujan, the renowned poet, linguist and folklorist who was also a close friend. “Every form of expression is interconnected and there are only thin lines between the various arts,” he says.
This morning, as I watch him arrange a collection of paintings for a forthcoming exhibition, waves of fern greens and lilacs, pale peaches and cobalt blues mingle with the sunlit glow of the room. In the past few years his work has gathered momentum, harnessed more energy and his colours have turned more sensuous and ebullient. Today this is what his work is about: light, energy, intensity and colour. At 66, Vasudev seems as driven by energy and enthusiasm as ever. It is almost as if he is able to draw inspiration from some secret perennial well-spring that he has exclusive access to.
Manju P. Pillai
courtesy:vasudevart
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Azis TM


Artville Artist Of The Day 
Azis TM
Untitled
Watercolour on paper
29 x 21.5 in

"I have never been particular about maintaining a style. I realize that experiences change with time. I accept the new environment, people and also like to adapt new techniques and colors".

Originally from Kerala, T.M. Azis is known to create human figures interacting with the other elements in a painting. Figures or objects performing as symbols spinning around allegories as conceived by the artist. He creates paintings, which record what might be ordinary, everyday occurrences, contemplated by him. A certain insight into behavioral thought, we realise that there is a world different from what see – the world that exists in our minds.

It is interesting to note that there are no decisive tactics, no fixed strategies in his work. Azis allows himself to be influenced by places around him and situations that he encounters. Simple objects and people in their vicinities rejoice in their existence by being involved in what is around.

The paintings do not project a grand décor, and even with its simplicity there is a certain magic and lightness about it. The different conversations performed by figures with the ‘designs’ lines or concentric circles in the paintings pleasantly create subtle movements on the surface reciting a visual rhythm to the viewer.

The paintings are constructed using bright colors sometimes and sometimes not so contrasting colors, which plainly have strong individual personas expressing a subtle theater of visual form.

In today’s contemporary art scenario, artists are fast adapting to new trends. T.M. Azis, primarily a painter, has also a prolific collection of photographs taken during the collaborative projects with other artists.

A graduate in painting from the Trivandrum Art College, he went further on to study at the Jamia Mila Islamia University in Delhi. He had his first show in the late 80’s and since then has held a number of solo exhibitions. He has also participated in several group shows in Bangalore, Bombay and Delhi and been a part of numerous camps held across the country.

Azis presently lives and works in Bangalore.
courtesy:saffronart

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