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December 17, 2011
Raj Kumar's paintings are deep, largely watercolour abstracts in splashes of blue, green, red, orange, yellow, black and brown, interspersed with outlined figures from nature and fantasy. His works seem to lie in the magnetic primordial space where the process of creation is taking place.
His works are followed by Sangeetha Kuruvilla's more defined, simplistic works defined by the positivity of spirituality. Take, “Purity” where she has painted a water lily untouched by the water that is its home. Sangeetha compares the lily to a soul emerging from ignorance. There is “Emerge”, where a large figure is outlined in red against a red backdrop; on its top left, she paints another meditating figure suspended in a golden orb and on the bottom right, she paints a woman dwarfed by the size of the being that has “emerged”. “The woman emerges in her own spiritual journey…” writes Sangeetha in the brief.
Next to Sangeetha, Abi Pulikeezh's black-and-white photographs occupy an inviting space of their own. His profiles, “One hundred years of solitude” of an old woman sitting on the doorstep of her broken-down home and an old man lying on a bed in a dark room, are evocative.
“Unexplored”, where a dwarf looks out from the doorway of a bus and “Circle Inspector's Circle”, where a few officers in white are seated on a circular structure beneath a tree are also some strong images.
“Most of the pictures are taken in Kolkata, Kerala and Bangalore. I have been dabbling in photography for the past seven years and this is my first show. I started off with the usual macro photography but after I saw the works of Steve Mccurry, I started focusing on portraits. When I was in Calcutta, I used to set out with my camera early in the morning and return at night. I was caught and investigated by the police many times in my sojourns to the alleyways. I have had issues with some of the people living there, but for me it's all part of the journey,” says Abi, a software professional and a part-time photographer. Swetha's folk-inspired textured oil-on-canvas works, though, seemed a little insipid, largely because of her colour palette of brown, burnt orange and red.
Probably the most inviting series of works in the exhibition, other than Abi's photos were Harsha Jagasia's drawings done in ink on paper. Her profile of “Mary” with her head bowed and eyes closed was a sensitive acknowledgement of a woman's feelings, as was the portrayal of the serenity on the woman's face in “Shalom”.
“Men talk with their faces, while women talk with their bodies. I think women are most beautiful in their most vulnerable moments, when they are dancing or standing on their toes on a cliff or dancing for themselves. A woman is herself only when no one's around. It's what appeals to me,” says Harsha, an advertising professional and part-time artist.
The group exhibition will be on display at the Renaissance Gallerie, off Cunningham Road, until December 17. For details, contact 22202232.
The Hindu : FEATURES / METRO PLUS : Myriad of expressions
HARSHINI VAKKALANKA
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/article2721720.ece
Congratulations Abhi
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