‘Treasures of the South’ show
A group show of over 50 artists, spanning almost three generations - the most eminent to the promising, upcoming ones from Chennai and Hyderbad - who have made a mark in the modern art field is being held in Mumbai. Cymroza art gallery and Chennai’s Ayya galleries are jointly holding the show titled ‘Treasures of the South’.
An accompanying note mentions:” Art, though it may have one common purpose, namely to provide sensuous pleasure, has its meaning or value changed or modified even as an artist’s personality changes under the impact of new psychic or natural environments. The artist simply expresses the form and face of the world, carefully, delicately, without undue anguish, and as an anecdote. To a viewer, art must be contemplatively understood, its symbols decoded in tranquility and its layers of meaning understood, enjoyed and experienced to the fullest.”
The show that continues till February 23, 2008 features works of artists including A. Kannan , Anjani Reddy, Asma Menon, B. Srinivas Reddy, C. Douglas, D. Venkatapathy, Fawad Tamkanat, G. Raman, K. V. Haridasan, K. Muralidharan, K. Karuppiah, late K. M. Adimoolam, K. G. Narendra Babu, K. Srinivasa Chari, Laxma Goud, L. N. V. Srinivas, Laxman Aelay, Maria Anthony Raj, M. Senathipati, P. Gopinath, Ramesh Gorjala, Rm. Palaniappan are on view apart from other artists, such as Sisir Sahana, S. G. Vasudev, Sridhar Poluru, Thota Tharani , T. Vaikuntam, Veera Santhanam, A. Selvaraj, C. Dhakshinamoorthy, A. P. Santhanaraj, and Chippa Sudhakar are among the other artists on view.
Among the participating artists, Chippa Sudhakar's paintings, primarily based on the intricate relationship patterns between men and women, attempt to explore the nuances of these subtle links. Another of his favorite subjects is a dream; water too is an ever-present factor, in the form of rain, streams, boats and fish, a faithful recreation of the reality of village life.
Fawad Tamkanat's work is narrative is a gross understatement. Throughout his career as an artist, he has strived to develop and then perfect a visual vocabulary that he can use to communicate with his viewers. And the language that he uses to take on peoples' minds is all about his own personal fixations; fixations that include those with time, and one's place in the general scheme of things.
Another prominent artist on view S. G. Vasudev developed his own "Tree of Life" that to him symbolized sexuality, fertility, procreation, as well as our links with our past, its myths and legends, the branches spreading out into the future. It was in every sense a fertile period. The symbiotic tree has been central to his artistic vision. It's gone through many mutations.
Thota Tharani’s works are generally non figurative and very colourful. He usually works with ink and paper, but has experimented with calligraphy as a form of creative expression also. The artist has once stated: "Alphabets of all languages are beautiful." His series of paintings featuring Gods and Goddesses are popular as well.
On other hand, the abstract paintings of LNV Srinivas are symbolic representations of landscapes with an internalized philosophy. They are decoded and yet coded, revealing and yet concealing; all encompassing. The artist has mentioned that his paintings are notions that break away from preoccupied images - the metascapes.
Summing up the spirit of the show, art critic Anjali Sircar mentions: “Here, then, we have works which are human without becoming pedestrian or illustrative. There are compositions, which result in pure fantasy; there are kingdoms of innocence and by contrast, works of tribal ritual, non-sophisticate in pictorial effect. The exhibition brings out well the expanse that Indian painting has traveled over last century or so. The personality of the artists has been made and remade with a seeming break with the past.”
View the‘Treasures of the South’ show
(Image courtesy: Cymroza Art Gallery)
