The three art shows currently on at Durbar Hall Art Gallery—‘Art/Idea/Concept’ by Surendran P.K., ‘Wilderness Unbound-My Zoomorphic Studies’ by Sunil Vallarpadam and ‘Miniature Paintings’ by Nandan P.V.—use three different idioms to reach out to viewers.
Surendran comments on our insensitivity towards management of waste paper, plastic waste and non-biodegradable products, issues that are burning topics in urban cities in the country. As the iron is hot the theme connects almost immediately. Surendran has taken the route of conceptual art and introduces it to viewers by amply providing text on two artists, Joseph Beuys and Joseph Kosuth, who have inspired him to use concept and installation effectively. His method is a combination of craft and photography. Recycling or rather upcycling of paper is what Surendran advocates. He has made bags out of newspapers and stocked them precisely. Folded paper is displayed in a dramatic serialised pattern that reinforces his idea of organised recycling of waste. Plastic bottles stuffed with paper hang purposefully. Photographs of clogged waterways, of sewers and overflowing filth are stark images that hit hard. Softening his stance, the artist has introduced aroma, intangible but palpable, a fragrance that hangs gently. It emanates from herbs filled in cloth poultices displayed in the centre and is one of the dimensions of the installation.
Moving into the second hall of the gallery one vicariously enters the wild. That is the sensation artist Sunil Vallarpadam wishes to offer to the viewer. The wild does come alive, whacky in some frames, witty in some but continually dramatic. Sunil’s earlier works too have always celebrated the wild. It is an area that fascinates him and clearly gives him immense joy and satisfaction. He revels in the innocence and the freedom of the forest, the complete abandonment of shackles that man has tied himself into. Animal imagery was the first expression by man, says Sunil, pointing that the wild has been a source of inspiration to artists since time immemorial. The five works are large canvasses covered completely with images of foliage and fruits, “some imagined and some real”. The main figures are the animals –African monkey, lion-tailed macaque and gibbon. Owls and bats form the backdrop in some works. Taking artistic license Sunil paints the bats inverted, looking at topsy-turvy homosapiens. “It’s a little joke,” says Sunil enjoying the satire and the subject. He took two years to complete the works for the show, which are due to travel to Germany. If Surendran’s work is modern in execution and Sunil’s dramatic, P.V. Nandan is old-world in style and theme. It is a delight to view something, which at its heart is direct, simple and unfettered. A train journey from Kanyakumari to Hampi is painted in watercolours on an unspooled ream of A4 size drawing paper. The artist is the observant traveller in the compartment watching closely at the scenes outside, which change from rocky to rural to urban; landscapes with herds of goats, buffaloes and birds. An ostrich (or is it the emu) in one frame is an oddity, not found commonly in these climes. As the viewer moves from one frame to the other and along the entire length of the train he/she becomes unconsciously a part of the journey, chugging along slowly through a train of images. The experience is real and the takeaway satisfying.
All three shows are on till November 10. The gallery timings are from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
