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From a bird’s point of view
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Two artists from Kumbakonam bring their hometown to life
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Photo: K.Ananthan
Snapshots of village life Artists K.Balashanmugam (left) and R.Ragu with their works
Monsoon arrives in a shower of colours at the painting exhibition at Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery on Avanashi Road. Works of K. Balashanmugam and R. Ragu take you on a trip to Kumbakonam. You enter paddy fields, watch flocks of ducks, visit temples and village homes and glimpse a variety of other plants that spring up on the paddy fields during the rains.
A slice of Kumbakonam
It is our way of presenting a slice of our life, of the days we spent in Kumbakonam during our years of study at Government College of Fine Arts there, say the artists.
“Flocks of ducks are the first to arrive at the fields after the rains. We see them right in front of our college,” says Balashanmugam. There is a vertical painting of a python entangled on a tree branch and fishes in the pond. This image, he says, captures the world from a duck’s point of view. “They are looking at their prey,” he explains. Another painting highlights an eagle, their enemy and frogs, their prey.
Ragu’s works are snapshots of village life — huts bathed in sunlight in the morning and busy market places, and canopies of trees. “I have used lighting effect to show time of the day. It is important to use lighting without disturbing the subject,” he explains. His painting of an old temple by the bridge has an overcast sky, and there is light only on the water that flows under the bridge, to highlight the mood of the painting. There is an entire series on ducks — village women returning home carrying things on their heads, mynahs and plants, and so on all seen through the eyes of a duck. There is a vertical painting of a hen with chicks. “The chicks hide under the bush to escape from the predator, the eagle. In all the paintings, the birds look up because their enemy is out there waiting to pounce on them,” the artist explains. Crows and cats, dragonflies, and plants that sprout on the paddy fields all find a place in Balashanmugham’s works.
On the choice of different sizes, he explains it conveys a mood. Horizontal canvasses show movement, vertical show stillness, square frames show sudden emotions such as fear and rectangle canvasses highlight the normality of village life.
Ragu’s acrylic work of a bamboo forest is also part of the exhibition. In a series on roosters announcing the arrival of dawn, the colour of the sun is used as background lighting. “No one explores water colours, because it is a difficult media. A visual image of the painting should be imprinted in your mind even before you start. A lot of planning goes behind every brush stroke,” they add.
The exhibition is on till June 22. The timing is from 9.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. All the paintings are for sale. For details, call: 0422- 2574110
K. JESHI
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