Portraits perfect
PUSHPA CHARI
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Traditional art of the South gains prominence at Raasi Art Foundation's summer fest.
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TYPICALLY KERALA : A variety of murals
Raasi Art Foundation's Summer Art Festival exhibition has impressive renderings of traditional South Indian art forms such as Kerala's ancient `suvara chitra' or mural art form, kalamkari art panels, well executed Thanjavur art and Mysore glass paintings along with brilliant reproductions on canvas of the more famous of Ravi Varma's paintings.
All the exhibits have been crafted by artisans and artists trained under Raasi's training programmes conducted by well known artists and master crafts persons in the field.
The highlights of the Summer Art Festival are reproduction of canvas of Ravi Varma classics. Superbly reproduced, rich in content yet replete with sensitive tonal shading, the Ravi Varma frames convey depth of expression and a sense of timelessness. The `suvara chitra' paintings, which once graced Kerala temples, are another arresting feature of the Raasi exhibition. The artisan has literally brought the 8th Century art form alive in a series of frames celebrating Radha Krishna, Ramar Pattabhishekam, Shiva as Dakshinamurthy and a marvellously rendered panchamukha Ganesha where the different hues create a stunning visual impression. The `suvara chitra' paintings capture the mellow, cracked impression of old temple walls in paintings which cast a spell with their stylised human faces with large elongated eyes and stylised hand gestures reminiscent of Kathakalli dancers.
The Mysore and Thanjavur paintings and the kalamkari cloth panels too are appealing and come in a wide range from traditional to innovative themes and formats as well as sizes. An `Ashtalakshmi' formatted to form a decorative ceiling panel is innovative and opens new avenues of using this visual temple art. Kalamkari cloth panels exhibit artistry of a high order and come in varying sizes. The themes range from a poetic `tree of life' in soft vegetable dyes to elaborate panels. The summer festival of art which opens tomorrow at 1, Anna Avenue, Bhaktavatsalam Nagar, Chennai-20 (ph. 244410389), concludes on May 13.
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