The art gallery at Kasthuri Sreenivasan Culture Centre is softly lit. Paintings of nine artists from the Seventh Orion Art Group, Chennai, line the walls. Faces painted in red, yellow, blue, brown human and outlined in white welcomes me. On a closer inspection I find more than faces — birds, leaves, plants and animals hidden between the white lines. These acrylic on canvas paintings are by P Augustine. A painting of a Buddha catches my attention. Set against a dark green background, his face is brown and his eyes are closed. The bright yellow of the halo dissolves softly into the green background.
I move to Village Mookaiya’s paintings. It portrays women with their noses pierced and vermillion on their foreheads. A lady in a deep blue blouse with jasmine flowers on her hair wears a thoughtful expression. Almost all his paintings have a lamp lit in the background. Geometrical shapes and usage of multiple colours are the highlight of Prem Kumar’s works. There is a painting of Krishna playing a flute. The background is shades of red and green, blue, purple and yellow form the image. The bright yellow jewellery and the golden flute stand out in the picture.
Horses and bulls are the subjects of Dha Shivakumar. He has been an artist for 35 years. Shivakumar’s acrylic on board works remind me of watercolour paintings without defined borders. “This is my style. I don’t think an outline is necessary to give form to these horses.” He is also exhibiting charcoal paintings of bulls. J Nelson Kennedy’s abstracts are all oil on canvas. “I used to be a figurative artist but later chose to be an abstract artist. I cannot express my feelings in words. So I paint them. Viewers can derive any meaning out of them.”
Bronze sculptures by M D Manoharan Paulwalaki depict village scenes. In one, a tired shepherd rests against an old wall. He has a long stick in his hand. A goat stands on the wall, looking down at him. Another one shows three women bathing near a public well. “I spent my childhood in a village in Madurai. These are all recollections from my young days. You can’t find any of these in the city.” He also has a series of paintings called Good Luck, which portrays gaurs. One showed a dark gaur standing in a river. Thick vegetation covers both sides of the river and sunlight seeps in through the trees, creating a reflection of the animal on water. “I travel a lot and have seen gaurs. They are very powerful. I was influenced by them and so this series,” explains Paulwalaki.
Antoney Mukhathala’s painting shows images from the daily lives of women. One shows a lady sitting in her kitchen. Her face is turned away. A little sparrow and a cat sit next to her. Green and its shades are the primary colours used. Surrealistic artist Vakhai D Dharma’s paintings are an expression of his emotions and understanding of the world. Showing me a landscape picture, he says, “I was inspired when I was travelling on a boat in the backwaters of Alappuzha. The reflections were beautiful.” He says that he is a creator and his role ends only after an observer derives meanings from his works. D Joseph Raj uses mixed medium for his painting. “I use acrylic embossing for the borders. Textures are very important and therefore each art takes at least 20 days to complete.” His pictures depict village life, Buddha and Ganesha.
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The exhibition showcases 60 works of P Augustine, Prem Kumar, MD Manoharan Paulwalaki, J Nelson Kennedy, Dha Shivakumar, D Joseph Raj, Antoney Mukhathala, Vakhai D Dharma and Village Mookaiya
Ongoing till March 25; 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
@ Kasthuri Sreenivasan Centre, Avanashi Road
