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Generations of art
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The intense devotion of the group to the medium is the highlight of the October exhibition at Orthic Creative Centre
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Photo H. Vibhu
In Memoriam Kamal, M.V.Devan and Sudheesh at the inauguration of the show.
Much more than art, the October Exhibition at the Orthic Creative Centre, Karikkamuri Crossroad, showcases two or three generations of artists, moods and experiences that a whole art fraternity has been through and the anguish of this breed. They exp
ress their feelings in the medium they are most at home with, colour and lines: The abstract in various styles and shapes shout out the near- demise of realism, even among very young artists.
The 33 works of 21 artists who congregated at the centre for a few days and shared the studio space and their thoughts had much to reminisce and look forward too. The camp was very special this time, for it was held in memory of M.K.K. Nair, founder-chairman of Kerala Kalapeedhom, who passed away 20 years ago.
Remembering M.N.Vijayan
The exhibition of the paintings was inaugurated by film director Kamal while M.V. Devan presided. Prof. Sudheesh spoke at length on M.N. Vijayan and the beliefs he held sacred, explaining the social and political context in which Vijayan stood his ground, neither changing nor diluting his stand.
Veteran artists like M.V. Devan, C.N. Karunakaran, K.K. Rajappan, are on show. M.V. Krishnan, art educationist, has done one work for the show, a small one, in yellow and green. There are five works of Devan, one depicting M.K.K. Nair from his memory, with the famed lake as the background and the others are compact frames of abstracts, lines and colours intermingling to create vague forms. K.K. Rajappan’s black and grey work of the first shed that was Kalapeedhom, at Pulleppady, in 1970, that started off the art scene in Kochi, is nostalgic. His colours emphasise the mood. “We were nine students and we would come every evening. There was Kanai Kunjuraman, AS Namboodiri and a few other die-hard art enthusiasts-teachers then,” he remembers.
Jayaram C.S. describes his painting as calendar art, that which will be understood by people and which subject is popular. Thick lines dominate the work and the subject? Cricket. A boy holds a cricket bat and ball in it. Kaladharan’s three works are a festival of the brightest and deepest colours in which hide forms drawn in thin black lines.
C.N. Karunakaran’s style now dwells more on colour than lines. The fluid boundaries of his forms which merge into other colours are the new aspect of Karunakaran’s style. Ratheesh Vincent’s painting is interesting, where a row of teeth is seen, not in the order of how they sit in the mouth, but straight. A figure is perched on one tooth and there is another row behind. Binuraj, Jyothilal, Baburam M.R., Deepak PW, John V.J., Jeevanlal, Manoj Vyloor, Mohandas N.N., Murali Cheeroth, Nishad M.P., Rajendran G., Roy Thampuran and Shijo Jacob are the artists on show.
What is great about this show is not so much the number of different types of works and styles on display, as the intense devotion of the group to the medium and the camaraderie among the group. Kaladharan, who organised the camp at the Orthic Centre, has devoted his life to the cause of art. To bring this many artists of such calibre together is itself a Herculean task, artists being temperamental beings, and for such a diverse collection of paintings to hang in the same gallery is a rare treat, with several ‘exclusives’ to his credit, like the work by M.V. Krishnan. The paintings are priced between Rs.7,000 and Rs. 1 lakh, modest by general standards.
PREMA MANMADHAN
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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