Structural harmony
ANUPAMA RAJU
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Jijo Ayroor’s paintings and sculpture revolve around urban landscapes.
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Aesthetic spaces: One of the works in Jijo Ayroor’s exhibition of paintings and sculpture.
Are architects artists too? Is architecture art as well? Jijo Ayroor’s paintings and sculpture provoke us into asking these questions. Revolving around the theme of urban landscapes, Ayroor’s work urges the visitor to see art in urban str
uctures and to reject any architecture that is not in sync with the landscape.
“What we see around here mostly is box-shaped buildings that are not in tune with the landscape. Buildings should merge with the landscape,” says Ayroor who works as an architect and interior designer in Kochi.
This professional role perhaps enables Ayroor to give importance to structural harmony, which, he tries to infuse in his artistic work as well. The paintings, mostly acrylic on canvas, portray different forms of structure breathing life into imaginary landscapes. ‘Tent,’ for instance, shows various living spaces in perfect coordination with each other.
Nature has a definite role to play in this harmony. The ‘Landscape’ series show an interesting array of shades laid out in banana leaves, bananas and seeds. How perspectives can determine the size of spaces is also a theme in ‘Landscape 1.’ In architecture, these perspectives are best defined by the skilful use of lighting.
‘Vertical Homes’ in charcoal is a bleak depiction of a city rising in concrete ‘splendour,’ yet falling when it came to harmony with nature.
A completely surrealistic world awaits the visitor in ‘Resorts’ where water, man and fish combine to create a bizarre effect. Defined as spaces where one can relax, these ‘resorts’ are depicted using the figures of fish that rest on man’s shoulders. The human body too is a structure – a building, after all. This thought is confirmed by the ‘spiral staircase’ present inside the human body. Thus, each man becomes a building, a resort.
This theme recurs in ‘Reindeer’ in which the living animal symbolises the building. How the beautiful structure of a graceful animal can inspire equally beautiful buildings is the theme here.
Urban landscapes
“I see sculpture in urban landscape,” confirms Ayroor, a gold medallist in sculpture from the Government Fine Arts College, Thiruvananthapuram.
What was most interesting about the exhibition was a plan made of fibre, wood and glass depicting the living spaces of an artist. The intricate plan is based on the philosophy of an art community or a village that enables the artist to work and live.
The front elevation of the plan called ‘Art Gallery’ is also depicted as a formidable piece of sculpture.
The space that held together these myriad pieces was unusual too – Birds Art Café in (Vellayambalam) Thiruvananthapuram. The hustle of the city roads, the roar of a food processor, the chatter and clatter brought the city into the café. The setting seemed just right for Ayroor’s work.
The artist explains that the ambience of a bustling café helped him get a good response from the public. The exhibition is on at Birds Café till May 30.
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