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These old shades

Two artists want to do something about preserving life for posterity

Photos: M. Periasamy

RECORDING LIVES The works of Elanchezian (left) and Siva Kumar (right)

They are concerned about more than mere canvas and paint. Their preoccupation is with leaving records, a legacy of our rich cultural and social fabric.

"They don't know what a half-sari is, even in villages," says V. Siva Kumar as he walks you through his paintings, on display at the Kasthuri Sreenivasan Trust Culture Centre on Avanashi Road. Glimpses of everyday life, everyday people, everyday affairs. A lady with beads around her neck and flowers in her hair looks out of the canvas with quiet dignity and beauty. Explaining their concern further, the other artist S.A.V Elanchezian, asks: "We record the lives of the important people and the celebrities, but who is recording our lives?"

The two artists want to do just that. "We talk of European art and artists. But how many Indians know anything about the Indian greats?"

Elanchezian, in fact, harks back to the Ajanta Ellora paintings. Their influence is evident in his works and he is the first to admit it. Indian mythology seems to inspire him. A picture of Sita in Ashokavanam as she reaches out to a blue lotus catches your eyes. A blue lotus? You put it down to an artist's idiosyncrasy. But, there is a very good reason for the blue flower. Elanchezian explains how while Sita gazes at the lotus, she is reminded of her lord Rama (who was blue in colour), and so...

Questioning God

He expresses the wonder of creativity. And he seems to be in love with bright colours. In fact there is one watercolour, the only one in the predominantly acrylic collection, where he has one clawed foot of a crow and just next to it a brightly coloured one. "I am asking god why he has been so unfair to the crow by rendering him black, a colour we associate with the inauspicious," explains Elanchezian. And, so it goes on. He has a series of paintings called "Dream girl" where the female form has been beautifully rendered.

From Elanchezian's mythology, philosophy and a dream-like world, Siva Kumar's works bring you immediately down to earth. A bunch of girls sits with their backs to us chatting about something, a girl, no more than a child herself, combs her younger sibling's hair as the latter is engrossed in eating something. Another girl stands shyly by a chair. There are people weaving in and out of the entrance to the Tanjore temple. In the midst of this is an old man who checks out his stainless steel dabba that looks startlingly real!

And nearby are canvasses that capture the pretty faces and costumes of folk dancers. Nothing ponderous or pompous in his themes, yet they provide a valuable insight into what day-to-day life is all about. May be a thousand years from now when there is no one wearing saris or putting flowers in their hair or wearing pottus, they will look at these paintings and say: "Ah! So this is what the Indians of yore looked like, and this is how they lived."

"Technology may be moving at breakneck speed, but what is invented today is obsolete tomorrow. But monuments and paintings live on forever, and through them, the artists," says Elanchezian.

Meet the artists at the venue till June 26 (Monday) between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. The works are priced between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 24,000. For details, call 0422-2574110.

PANKAJA SRINIVASAN

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