While nurses and doctors play a critical role in society by caring others, they have not always been seen as a popular theme for artists throughout history. However, we have an epic – painting series a testimonial to Malayali Nurses by a master artist Nilima Sheikh. This work is titled “Salam Chechi” and painted in the year 2018.
In recent years, we have experienced several viral disease outbreaks. One of the darkest periods occurred in 2018 when Nipah virus struck Kerala. The following year, COVID-19 emerged, affecting millions of people worldwide. Throughout these challenging times, the contribution of healthcare workers, particularly nurses, has been pivotal in providing care for the sick and maintaining community safety.
The pandemic has made us realize just how significant nurses are to our society. They have been working tirelessly to care for those affected by these diseases, putting themselves at risk of infection to provide care and comfort to those in need. They have worked long hours, often without proper protective equipment, and have faced significant emotional and mental strain as well.
For decades, Kerala nurses have migrated to different parts of the world, including the Middle East, Europe, North America, Australia, England and many other places to work in various healthcare settings. They have been sought after by employers for their professionalism, dedication, and compassion towards their patients.
These nurses have faced significant challenges in their new countries. In search of better employment prospects, lifestyle options, and professional advancement, many nurses leave the state and move to other nations. On the other hand, there are issues related with their migration on exploitation and displacement.
I hope all of you can relate to this series of painting; “Salam Chechi” is a thoughtful painting by Indian artist Nilima Sheikh. Nilima Sheikh, an artist and writer, was born in New Delhi and has a creative practice that is deeply rooted in her academic pursuit at fine arts faculty, MS University of Baroda. She is an important member of the Baroda School, and who work with different traditional mediums and contexts. Through her art, Nilima frequently explores the everyday political struggles of women and minorities in India, drawing stylistic inspiration from various art forms.
And as I said earlier, this five panel painting pays tribute to the nurses from Kerala, who serve all over the globe. And this was first showcased at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2019. Have a look at the painted wood panels. I will read some texts for you-excerpts which is part of the painting.
Let me tell you the meaning of the title of the work “Salam Chechi” – “Chechi” means “elder sister” in Malayalam, the local language and the artist has deliberately used that expression in honour of Kerala nurses and Salam is an expression of salute or greetings, in arabic it means “piece”.
This touching narrative on the tireless efforts of nurses around the world, particularly those from Kerala, talks about different experiences. The artist composed her signature style forms, colours and text mounted on five plywood panels.
A quick connect in me relates the colour, energy and composition along with the technique to the Hindi Bhavan mural, Life of Medieval Saints (1946–47) by Binode Bihari Mukherjee. Binode Bihari Mukherjee was an Indian artist and muralist who was known for his distinctive style and technique. He was associated with the contextual modernism of 20th century in Santhiniketan.
Both the artists make use of tempera techniques and similar color scheme and composition. May be that links me here. How do you feel?
Tempera painting is a type of painting where the artist mixes pigment with a special kind of liquid that can mix with water. The word tempera comes from a word that means to make something the right consistency. The dry pigment is mixed with a liquid that makes it stick to the surface the artist is painting on. Tempera paintings are very long lasting. It is often favored by artists who want to create opaque, quick-drying layers of paint, as it can be layered without lifting the layer underneath.
Nilima Sheikh uses Casein tempera as medium. This is a type of painting medium that combines casein, a protein found in milk, with pigment to create a paint that can be applied to a surface. Casein tempera is similar to traditional egg tempera, but instead of using egg yolk as the binder, it uses casein.
The painting reminds us of the important role that nurses play in our lives and the need to appreciate and support them. As we continue to navigate these challenging times, it is important to remember and appreciate the essential role that nurses play in our society.
Have you ever noticed that in history books, there are only credits to “father of new ideas and inventions”? Can you name any female innovators from our history? We have already started thinking about this because women have also made significant contributions.
Back in 1971, an American Art historian named Linda Nochlin wrote an essay called “Why have there been no great Women Artists?” It’s an interesting read if you want to learn more about this topic.
Today, I want to share with you a great woman artist of early twentieth century, who didn’t get recognized until recently. Her name is Hilma Af Klint, and she was from Sweden. Her artwork is considered to be a big part of the history of abstract art.
Usually, people credit artists like Vassily Kandinsky, Malevich, and Mondrian as the founders of abstract art. And many articles identifies Vassily Kandinsky as the father of pure abstraction in Art. But recent studies have shown that Hilma Af Klint’s work actually came before theirs. She had her own unique style, and she was interested in spiritualism which shaped her pure abstract art.
It’s important to remember that history can always be rewritten. We need to make sure we give credit where credit is due.
You can watch this content on YouTube; here you go…
I am sharing a book that will definitely help you if you are a student of art history or art or if you have any kind of interest to know the sources of Indian art. It is Oxford Readings in Indian Art Edited by B N Goswamy.
Art history is a field that is still in its infancy. While there have always been individuals who have appreciated and studied art throughout history, it wasn’t until the early twentieth century that art history became recognized as a distinct and important field of study. One of the challenges in studying art of earlier times is that there is often limited documentation or historical evidence available. Artifacts from ancient and medieval times can be scattered, incomplete, or fragmented. Art historians must often piece together a picture of the past by drawing upon a wide range of sources, from historical texts and documents to archaeological evidence and comparative analysis.
Despite these challenges, art historians have been working tirelessly since long to reconstruct the history of art from our past. Art has been a prominent subject in literary texts since ancient times, with references and extensive passages found in various works. However, gathering all the available information about visual art from different time periods and sources can be a challenging task. It requires careful analysis and selection of the relevant chapters from each text to create a comprehensive picture of the art and its evolution over time. Despite these challenges, art historians and scholars have made significant strides in piecing together the history of art through their work in gathering and interpreting these scattered sources. The literary texts that contain references to art provide us with valuable insights into the evolution of art and its impact on society, and their study is an important part of the broader field of art history.
The collaborative effort by B.N. Goswamy and Vrinda Agrawal lead to the volume of readings in Indian Art. This volume brings together an incredible array of sources to provide a comprehensive overview of historiography of Indian art. Goswamy and Agrawal have assembled a remarkable collection of primary texts, historical documents, and scholarly essays, creating what could be considered a little encyclopedia of Indian Art.
Lets look into the content of this volume. It has divided into six parts according to the nature of the readings.
The first section discusses the early textual references and provides 28 different situations to the existence of academic and artistic practices in ancient times. This volume contains references to the hymns of creation from the Rig Veda. Bharata’s identification of a sculpture of his father, through its lakshanas. Sixty-four arts from Yashodhara’s commentary on Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra and Shaivatantra. Additionally, a Tocharian Jataka recounts a painter who deceived everyone by painting a life-like image of his own corpse, and a competition between artists from Turkey and China is described. All these reveal the conceptual and technical advancements of ancient society. These articles referring to primary sources offer secure dating.
The second part focuses on icons and their measurements, providing detailed descriptions and instructions for the creation of images in painting, sculpture, and architecture. These references are drawn from various sources such as the Chitrasutra, Tantric text Shivarahasya, Manasara, Sukranitisara, Sadhanamala, Kalpasutra, and others. There are a total of 16 references that offer insights into the iconography and measurement-related aspects of art and architecture.
The third section deals with Aesthetic Theory and is the shortest or I would say, under developed, of the six parts. It is lacking in data as it only touches upon the concept of rasa, aesthetic experience, and the six fundamental rules of painting, which were a colonial interest. There is much more to explore in the realm of aesthetic theories related to art, such as dhvani, chitrakavya, and bandha, among others. Unfortunately, only five excerpts are included in this section.
The fourth section delves into Arts in Practice and as Observed, exploring references to the methods and materials used in creating art. This section is significant as it provides insight into the resources available for art and any changes that occurred over time. Here, you can discover the various methods and materials employed by artists across different time periods and under different patronages. A total of 43 reference articles are included, providing a comprehensive view of the practical side of art creation.
The fifth section explores Artists and Patrons, a topic that is often under-valued in the Indian context. This section provides evidence of references to artists and patrons from different time periods, ranging from ancient to medieval and up to the early twentieth century. A total of 58 references are included, shedding light on the relationships between artists and patrons throughout history.
The sixth section presents some Early Art Historical Writings, featuring excerpts from writers who wrote about Indian art during the British colonial era and up until the times of independence. This section includes contributions from 43 writers, offering a glimpse into the perspectives and interpretations of Indian art during a critical period of its history.
I hope you now have a better understanding of the Oxford Readings in Indian Art, which is published by Oxford University Press and is priced at Rs. 1995/-. I was fortunate enough to receive this book as a gift from the Raza Foundation when I was selected for their Young Art Writers’ Workshop in New Delhi in 2018, the same year it was published. During the workshop, I had the privilege of hearing directly from Vrinda Agrawal about her work with the acclaimed art historian B N Goswamy on this volume.
If you’ve read this book or have any other recommendations for books on Readings in Indian art, please let me know in the comments below.
Kriya was organised by a group of young artists from different nationalities under the banner of Vastu International Art Expo mainly focussing dialogues on process as performance held at Maharashtra Cultural Centre Pune from 18th to 21st December 2015. Publishing excerpt of Curatorial concept for the first time.
These are the days when institutions of art education that draws aid from Government(public sector) needs solidarity . These are the days when our art pedagogy is acutely under attack from global {art- corporate} adulteration; cultural decaying and failure of government infrastructures of art in the rural india . Students prefer to go foreign countries ; even after taking masters, the frequency of dissatisfied students complaining and re -educating them from foreign institutes of Art are increasing in a large number. Most of them have double bachelors or double masters in the same faculty.
What is this showing…?
If they are in quest of experience they can be cultural tourists or they can apply for travel grants.. But what they need is education standards which they feel lacking.
What is this showing….?
Rural Indian art education is in the verge of collapse. Critical readings of economical inabilities and failure in infrastructure of art institutions in a public space will destroy the respect of government sector art education in whole. This should be monitored. There are good public sector art institutions too. Cultural critics have the responsibility to defend the cultural attack on our public sector art institutions and their functioning. If this is waving in its purpose; Students will then mass migrate to foreign countries and private sector expensive art education. If some one wants to make a difference, they need to in interfere in to the government sector and make that interface both affordable and manageable for the government to get their quality standards high. Institutions in periphery and their administration need to accommodate affordable outside interventions, increasing number of inter-institutional-international student and faculty exchange programs and in service up gradations of the faculty pedagogical knowledge base as frequent as they could. Placement of required faculty members need to be filled up with international standard of qualifications.This will also work as a notion of decolonization. Other wise we will end up seeingan unending curatorial notes showing the words “migration and salvation” .
Excerpt from the curatorial note of “Kriya 2015” Travelling exhibition held at Pune”.
An exhibition of young santiniketan artists working with materials;process and poeticity.
I think this is the right time to think back and revisit the ‘Alert not Alarm’, a group exhibition conceptualised myself, held from 16th January till 20th January 2016 at Durbar hall art gallery Ernakulam, Kerala in India. That was the time nearly after the Justice dragged its feet as in the murders of a distinguished Kannada writer and Sahitya akademi award winner, M.M. Kalburgi and two anti-superstition activists of Maharashtra, Narendra Dhabolkar and Govind Pansare. And publishing here, after the recent similar attack on Bangalore based Journalist Gauri Lankesh.
We have been aware of the threat in our busiest existence, but in the invisible visible form. The blaring alarm is futile and impotent with the blasting currents.
Alarm was blaring in the last four to five days, But now it’s slowly concealing from the visibility.
We should think: Why the gun is targeting the intellect, voice and freedom?
Let’s go back to the 2016 Group Exhibition;
The exhibition ‘ALERT NOT ALARM’ was inaugurated on January 16th evening 4.00pm by the eminent Malayalam poet S. Joseph. He was then recently received the Odakkuzhal Puraskaram, an Indian literary award for his outstanding poetry-‘Chandranodoppam’. He spoke about the inevitable relation between poetry and visual art. “Poetry is composed full of visuals”. He extended his talk on appreciating the works of art hanged on the walls of the gallery. Durbar hall art gallery was filled with art lovers and exponents. This continued as dialogues till the end of the show. Even the media coverage was not bad.
“There is a rising terror in the world, yet the change is invisible in material form, whenever something is cut from our history and culture, that fear is mounting”
ALERT NOT ALARM featured the works of ten Indian artists namely Gopakumar R P, Anudev Vasundhara, Suresh K Nair, Shijo Jacob, Saju Mannathur, Liesl Cotta De Souza, Querozito De Souza, Babu K R, Ashok Kumar Gopalan and Tom J Vattakuzhi. The idea of unpresentable in presentation is distinctive and unique to each one of the artists in the show.
Artist T Kaladharan infront of the works by Gopakumar R P , Unhealed Wounds, Digital media print on canvas
The aesthetics of terror is symbolised in the works of art titled UnhealedWounds by Gopakumar R P. The immanent sublime (unpresentable) is what present in his digital artseries. One could feel the ‘Risk’ as the intentional interaction with uncertainty. It reflects the ignorance of ‘time’ and the ‘existence’. https://www.seditionart.com/gopakumar-r/unhealed-wounds-1
Cross Media Art Installation by Anudev Vasundhara
Anudev Vasundhara’s work of art Kuzhi (Pit) discusses the thoughts on the visual culture of threatened private spaces (corporate vs. private). It is not showing a void space, but a deliberately removed space of a tree, an ecological threat and shift. The work of art is very much engaging with the viewer in its technological imparting in a home theatre set up. Installation displays cross media practice of Artist’s “Naagachampa Linguistic Archeology Interviewer Performance Series” and “Kuzhi 4k” 3D model.
Suresh K Nair and friends infront of his Painting Butterfly Museum
The future tense extinction of butterflies curiously alerts Suresh K Nair through his art work Butterfly Museum. The lengthy work of art puzzles the eyes of its onlooker and text-play in its form.Ochre, saffron and green colours in Nair’s painting evokes the nostalgic mural tradition .
Shijo Jacob infront of his Painting Series
Objects-motifs in a series of paintings by Shijo Jacob questioning the criticality of the contemporary socio-political milieu. It expresses an anxiety of alarm. He is giving suggestions to the viewer.
Painting by Saju Mannathur
Saju Mannathur’s landscape defines geo-physical land forms related to him. The Painting shows the presence of a changing land, the forceful transformation of green to saffron, a village to something else. The scape of his own land alarms as his feelings and possessiveness with the memory in that land.
A viewer infront of Liesl Cotta De Souza’s art works
The process is what makes Liesl Cotta De Souza’s art works absorbing to the public. It is naive and intricate. Celebration is always part of dreams which consumerism explores present-in the painting stitch by Liesl Cotta De Souza.
Querozito De Souza and a viewer infront of his painting Metamorphosis
Querozito De Souza titled his painting as Metamorphosis is a subject of trans-cultural. A complete shift in the form, structure, subject and object. His encounter with the abstract torsos in painting gives lucid idea of his thought to the beholder.
Painting by K R Babu
Flora is changed from its coolness to the warmth within the paintings by K R Babu. The champa tree and snake, symbolising it is a popular move. I would like to explain it with one word: ‘The moon tree’.Here I feel like quoting The Tao of Physics;
‘Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad, One should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation, Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of that, Penetrate that imperishable as the mark, my friend.’
Ashok Kumar Gopalan infront of his art works
The paintings by Ashok Kumar Gopalan babbles the dreadful trans-gendering issues of the new sexuality challenging the normal. A mere observation and experience during Artist’s stay at Banglore made him visible this invisible issue of ‘gender’ threat.
Painting by Tom J Vattakuzhi
The invisible terror of the darkness inside the source light of a candle depicting a beautiful girl offering the ‘mystical’ or ‘forbidden’ fruit is presented by Tom J Vattakuzhi. He uses the maximumtechnicality of light and shade as a philosophical medium of representation in his painting.
The creative art in the time of terror is as an alert of invisible (unpresentable) alarmto the public.
Theorising the concept ‘ALERT NOT ALARM’ Unpresentable in Presentation
The title is clearly suggests a warning to be vigilant. What makes us to be vigilant is the aesthetics of terror. The contrasting words together indicate the forms and principles swell out of ‘terror’. Again ‘terror’ cannot merely understand within the frame of ‘terrorist actions’. The time of terror has been continuing still with its shabby face. What made this curation to be released now is the unspeakableand the unimaginable words and images in a time of terror . This terror exists in different types that include Psychic, Criminal, Religious and Political. ‘A negativity bias’ is widely carried out by mass media in our day today life. A form of intellectual psychological warfare in our society emerged through the social media networks ofglobalised circumstances. Not only has the impact of terror hit settlement of human beings but also the flora and fauna. Those varies as disappearance, displacement, misplacement, extinction, consumerism, trans-gendering,migration etc. The impact of this terror boom is extremely terror as it is, but moreover invisible in its presentation.
The drastic cultural change present in the visuals of popular culture is terror-struck to the harmony of bio network. I would like to explain Unpresentable in presentation with in this context. The sublimity, an immanent sublime is the core concept of unpresentable in presentation which Lyotard put forward in explaining the post modern within modern. This presents the distinctive characteristics between forms of more closed and terroristic of post modern, and more open and experimental modernism. For Edmund Burke, Sublime is “whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain and danger, that is to say, whatever… operates in a manner analogous to terror”. It emphasizes the immanent, the ‘ordinary’ and calls attention to the experience of terror and other physiological perversions and deviations. In the Sublime and the avant-garde Lyotard elaborates the mere fact of the word “it happens”: “Letting-go of all grasping intelligence and of its power, disarming it, recognizing that this occurrence … was not necessary and is scarcely foreseeable, a privation in the face of Is it happening? guarding the occurrence “before” any defence, any illustration, and any commentary…
Unpresentable in the semantics emerge within the notion of “sliding signifiers” was argued by J. Lacan. It resembles the idea of the invisibility of things and visibility of relationships of things. Lyotard develops ‘invisible’ or ‘unsayable’ in the texts of the 1980s exploring a philosophy beyond vitalism to language and justice. The ‘invisibility’ of ‘identity’ in every arena of social-culture is dreadfully visible as aftermath the globalisation. This ‘invisible’ change, I think can be exemplified through the popular culture of visible analysis of relationships in the last decades. The impact is the result in both homogeneity and hybridization (Transculturality). “Lifestyle choices lie at the heart of consumerism as dreams are marketed over genuine needs”. An analysis of the ‘sliding signifiers’ in the heroic characters of popular film culture in India of last few decades since the Hollywood film ‘Mr. India’ to ‘Pa’ varies from the manliness to childishness. In case of consumer products, the disappearance of gender-specific use of materials to unisex items increases day by day. Such ‘invisible’ change in totality is threatening. Global culture is growing in the “Global Village” of Marshall McLuhan infact there is no possibility of a world culture.
Alert not Alarm is a need as desecrateof terror broaden the globe. The transculturality formed out of this immanent sublime pervade our day to day life especially contemporary popular culture and that of visual art. Beyond the Spectacle of Terrorism by Henry Giroux talks about this. The visual culture of shock and fright emerged out of mass-multi media and realism may be the sway to artists today. Such a visual culture may explore the invisible as the art works may work as in differential interrelations among signifiers. And according to Lyotard; Art which participates in this post modern awareness of difference and heterogeneity will therefore critique and destabilize the closures of modernity which will explore the unpresentable. The outcome of Argentina’s “Dirty War” as Diappearing acts, Taylor analyses the aesthetics of violence and the disappearance of civil society during Argentina’s spectacle of terror.
References:
Manon Slome, ONCURATING.org
W.J.T.Mitchell, The Unspeakable and the Unimaginable: Word and Image in a time of terror-2005
Edmond Burke, A Philosophical inquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and the beautiful Ed. Adam Philips, Oxford 1990
Jean Francois Lyotard, The postmodern Condition 1979
J Lacan, Agency of the letter in the unconscious
Jean Francois Lyotard, Just Gaming 1985 and The Differend 1983
K Thomson, Social Pluralism and Post Modernity in S Hall and B Gibn (eds.) Modernity and its Futures, Cambridge 1999
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extentions of Man, Toronto 1994
Henry Giroux, Beyond the Spectacle of Terrorism, Global Uncertainty and the Challenge of New Media, Paradigm Publishers, 2006
K M Narayanan’s paintings evoke a surveillance systemin the present time, which is having footage from different views displayed on canvas.The images in his works are the eye captures of his surroundings. Some times the space allotment is binary; inside and out side view. Some times it is multiple under surveillance. It holds a form of parable that has a physicality of space rather than the sense of involved content description. In the beginning of his artistic journey he motivated from the madras modernism. Seeking a path leading to a quest for Indian identity which is a key concern of Indian modernism influenced him too.
K M Narayanan’s paintings signify a multifaceted surface constructed out of the strain from past and erupt with the present. In effect, the paintings mention his concern for the society. Thus the subject matter varies from his childhood memory to now, the change in the society, land, weather, voyage, stories, acquaintances etc. The latest painting has titled You are under surveillance as inspired from an article about the CCTV emergence and its impact on the society. So his knowledge of vision and understanding surroundings is created figures in a play of narrative structure. This creates a sense of shattered picture plane. Such breaking up of space allows more view of the scape depicted.
His voyage in quest for visual art through out his limited opportunity of exploring out from the locale recites in this exhibition. Art becomes part of life for very few. A naïve nature in the presentation and non-intended roots in the history elucidates the context of Indian in his paintings. These trace its elements in Mughal paintings and the brightness of the Rajput paintings. Artist uses an Indian realistic visual language of mughal perspective. The duality or polarity; traditional and modern, private and public, inside and outside, rural and urban are being continually reunited by Narayanan. Bright-colours on canvases which seem not merged into the surface are his treatment. Not intentionally, but the colour scheme has got a continuous change from green of the earlier to red now. Art works are some times reflection of society and nature. A retro of the paintings by artist K M Narayanan is on.
A drawing by Anudev M (he was drawing it when I was writing this blog)
I was thinking that I am far away from the social interference, and happy for that. From the day to day experience I think; “Society and social is no more. Existing is the Consumer”.
What I want to share with you is some of my catalog writings published in the exhibitions at Kerala during my teaching years at RLV College of Music and Fine Arts.
I found these writings as text file-drafts saved in a folder named ‘Critical Writing’ in my 1 Terra-bite hard disk. I could remember the art works of my friends-students there, but I could find, no other documentation in my hard disk. Feeling sorry for myself.
WORK-THING
WORKS OF ART BY THE FINE ART STUDENTS OF RLV-2012
The aesthetic premises defining the specific nature of the object as well as of the enjoyment of art are many. There are the major theories of making, symbolizing and expression, also the minor ones of pleasure, play, and irony etc. There are also certain antithetical notions about art such as that it is imitative and creative, affective and intellectual, personal and impersonal, interested and disinterested, deliberate and inspired. Here the title suggests the Jubilee year exhibition is a symbol or expression by the fine art students of RLV College. It talks about time, space and existence. The ‘nature’ of the visuals here varies by them and altogether is the backdrop to the culture at where it is.
Every work of art is an autonomous sign composed of the ‘work-thing’ which functions as a sensuous symbol, the ‘aesthetic object’ which is laid down in the collective consciousness which functions as the signification and the relation to the thing signified that is a relationship that does not aim at a distinct existence- since it is a matter of an autonomous sign- but at the total context of social phenomena in a given environment.
Most of the paintings, sculptures and applied art works exhibited here are exploring the contemporary conditions of visual experience in the perceptions and conceptions. The work of art psychology of each individual is diverse, but there is a link we can connect it with. Though the art making thought practices vary from one to other, the unitude in diversity can be called the ‘visual culture’ which comes from nature itself.
The design is the basic and omnipresent element in our daily life. The elements of design functions as the contemporary application of art in the popular consuming world reside in each object of everyday public life. The need of projection in production marketing used design as a tool for the media such as postures, advertisements, consumer products, newspapers, companies, etc… Thus designing and history of design has to be treated as lessons of Visual art pedagogy.
The phenomenon of ‘De-sign’ within the context of visual culture is a deformed deconstructed sign from nature. For instance, the evolution of letters as a medium for communication is the design of sound elements distorted from the substances of nature. The form that deformed from nature, functions as a design of that sign. Quoting a 19th century English designer William Morris; ‘Art should meet the needs of society and that there should be no distinction between form and function’.
Another point I would like to add here in this framework is designed as a meta-discipline in all professions and life styles. The style itself is a design. Not only Engineers, Architects, and fashion designers are the designers, but also the one who applies the courses of action aspired on changing the existing situations to preferred one creating a new style.
The significance of different approach to contemporary design can be traced mainly in some Avant-garde movements of the time in the history of art. Constructivism, Bauhaus, Destijl, pop art etc… have greatly influenced the contemporary designing in mass culture of visual communication. The changing face of sudden booming in the field of creative advertising during modern age underlines the dominance in the world of human discoveries of new mechanisms over nature. The spirit of machine age on modern society continues. It is the key to develop a stream of a practical genre of designing that maintains functional constructions as an important aesthetics.
I would like to wish all the applied art students in their exertion for the coming exhibition.
The arts and culture strategies help to reveal and enhance the underlying identity of the physical and social form of a community. This identity is passing and reflected through the community’s character or sense of place. The expressions by the fine art practitioners altogether are the backdrop to the culture where it is and the ‘nature’ of the works of art of individuals varies by them. The exploration of contemporary conditions of visual experience in the perceptions and conceptions within the pedagogical stratum and the cultural heritage milieu passing through the disciples creates a different Dais for the show.
This show wishes to reflect the contemporary of currents on the possibility of lending itself to the realm of pedagogical knowledge, the sense of history by casting the analytical gaze of criticism and therefore our subjective judgment, between the here-and-now and its apocalyptic collapse. The aesthetic premises for this curation defines the theories of making, symbolizing and expression, also the minor ones of pleasure, play, and irony. There are also certain antithetical notions about art such as that it is imitative and creative, affective and intellectual, personal and impersonal, interested and disinterested, deliberate and inspired.
Now, the creations by the final year BFA students of RLV college of music and fine arts for this show is out of muse-enthusiasm which results in the amuse.
Inspiration -Muse- Thought
How the fine art students differ? Out side of Skill, the endeavor which the learner reaches is an unconscious burst of creativity from the muses. The concept “muse” exists from ancient time through myths. In Greek mythology, muses are the goddesses of the inspiration of the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture. The vitality to work forces drives the self- inspiration and thought. The need derives the work forces. Those mirror as insights such as dreams, ideas, forms, and beliefs.
This is a trans- phase of self-awareness of these upcoming artists of the new era. It is the creativeness out of Well thoughts (Muses) offers the awareness to the artist. Here they express the feelings and ideas of their own with an exploration. Nine members of the exhibitions possess varieties. Those variants are not necessarily promised a homogeneous episteme, but bond in new ways of expressions.
A witty illusionistic image trick by Jibin puzzles the mind; Phantom imaginary teen struck standing in front of the painting by Sreekala; Karthika experiments the constructivist; The mind: conscious or unconscious, not sure with a fear to the theory of art depicts Kannan’s own self; Hyper electronic future can perceive in the painting by Midhun; The mystery always leaves something to fill or a conversation to the viewer, that painting is by Bhavin; ‘I am visualising the contemporary social issues’ by Manu; Father Antony experiments the experiments with Mahatma Gandhi, on other hand exploring Mantegna and Van Gogh; The one and only sculptor plays with the roundness in the show is Sonu.
All the very best…. And hold the self-awareness experiencing the muse/s with you through out your art expeditions.
The long journey through which a learner seeks education is experiencing the exploration and experimentation.
Today, the Exhibition Ayanam presents the expeditions to the oeuvre of passing masters degree students in the RLV College of Music and Fine art, Tripunithura. The group of sounds which might not be a noise is of course of various frequencies. The potential energy of the extra compression and strain of the matter converts and seen here as the artifacts. I aspire different ideas of novelty bring forth a great success to the show to these novices.
The past, present, and future related to space, self, and society deals the premise name. The stories behind the art exercise of the artists narrate; the pop- images related to feminine and pseudo cultural morale of Arya’s space – questions. Anagha replies with the expectations for future, challenge, belief, nonbelief and protection as the subject matter using iconic images like foot wears, dogs, thorns etc. Mona goes beyond the memoirs of her slipped past; which describes childhood nostalgia. Near by them, hears a mantra… Oh! That’s Alen meditate color on a surface.
On the next door, Mr. Ramesh sprays the Indian-civilization on a canvas. Besides, Anusree is making noises of her anklet with a fear but respect towards snakes. She visualizes the snake imagery of which she dreamed with fright. Jyothish expresses or bridging the traditional Dravidian rout culture through the Theyyam face painting metaphors. Who possesses the earth? Is the thought now by Ashil. He considers all beings and their equality. My work of art portrays the mythical reference from ancient Greek: a voice from the corner by Akhil. Again the beauty and innocence of the past homesick mind fight with the fast and furious life today. While almost living in the situations of the digital world, Biji mol imagines the missing past in her paintings.
Take the step forward for the sure future expedition throughout the oeuvre with the sturdy spirit of the past, all is best……
ART-SEARCH COLUMN 