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Strange Draw Artist Chicko and some of his works

Although he has been consigned to memories, Chicko lives on in remembrances such as these. Each painting or for that matter each brushstroke tells the tale of the maverick genius, yes the genius, behind the works. Because his work is considered surreal, there have been the obvious comparisons with Dali and Rene Magritte. And although some of his paintings do show influences of these and other surrealists, what is remarkable is that he evolved/developed an idiom that is inarguably his own.

If one has to describe a work by Chicko, one would have borrow (heavily) from what Magritte said of his paintings. The Belgian said, “My painting is visible images, which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery …”

Mystery is what Chicko’s paintings are and that is what they will be. Juxtaposition of seemingly incongruous and fantastic imagery creates an effect that is nothing short of being phantasmagoric. There is a dream-like quality to his paintings, not necessarily pleasant powerful nevertheless. “He used to read a lot, he used to consume a lot in terms of literature, English for instance,” says Kaladharan, the brain behind the retrospective. It took him a year to locate and collect Chicko’s works from various collectors.

Chicko’s unique idiom probably evolved from voracious consumption of literature. There is popular mythology, erotica and a more personal library of myths as well, which probably is his joke on those trying to “demystify” his paintings. But one can’t help but wonder about the one-eyed (Cyclops?) characters that populate his paintings. Water colours, oils, acrylic, ink, sketch pens – the media are varied. His works definitely show influences of the Indian miniature tradition.

And interestingly not a single one is signed, again the sign of a maverick. But he is there in some paintings, “Once when I asked him to sign his works, he refused. He said, ‘I don’t want money by signing anything’ or he would say that he didn’t have a pen. That was the kind of man he was. He never wanted huge sums of money. Just Rs. 3 or Rs. 5 or at the most maybe Rs. 100,” recalls Kaladharan.

It is a treat to see such a varied collection of paintings by Chicko, compiling a book of paintings as a tribute to a home-grown original artist would probably be an acknowledgement that was denied to him in his lifetime.

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