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A slice of French art for the Capital

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

A work by French artist Elzevir

NEW DELHI: While taking a peek into the fascinating world of colours and form, Delhiites will also get an opportunity to see and experience a slice of French art at Galerie Romain Rolland where French artist Elzevir is holding his exhibition till October 26.

For the show, which got under way on Monday, the artist has chosen four paintings each of three series - `Culture', `The Most Beautiful Day' and `On The Beach'.

He will also exhibit a good part of the series `The Hybrids' in which he has painted faces taken from known works belonging to European art history. "I have brought these out of context and attired them in present-day clothing, and by doing so I have given them their ordinary individual status, which they earlier possessed when they posed for the artists of the age before being immortalised as a symbol,'' explained Elzevir about his work.

Speaking about his introduction to the Indian gods, Elzevir maintains that they "appear even more present in Indian culture and it is opportune to depict in a contemporary fashion the religious personage of classical paintings".

Elzevir has been working at the Alliance Francaise premises since September 29 as he wanted to capture newer traits and habits and personalities for his paintings prior to the show. Through his work he hopes to show the Indian audience the linkage of the denuded body, which is very important in the present-day Western civilisation -- with `Culture' that has transgressed all boundaries of reasoning.

His series `On The Beach' deals with the bare body of everyday life. For Elzevir, it seems that modesty is quite present in Indian society and the connection of occidental vacationers with Indian bathers in the holy river would be interesting. He has also considered it pertinent to show the tradition of occidental marriage in his series, `The Most Beautiful Day'.

The selection of works that Elzevir is showcasing in Delhi is divided into two parts. The first comprises a series of works in an identical format. Each work is composed of two panels and represents a personage larger than real size. This personage is not situated in a specific space but is surrounded by colour. The viewer thus finds himself confronting a person face to face without the possibility of directing his look towards the background. Elzevir claims that he has been working on this principle for several years and has created a series of personalities on themes concerning occidental society, its social classes, its costumes and its habits.

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