M. Rama Suresh’s paintings draw the viewer in

When you view M. Rama Suresh’s works, you are transported into the frames almost instantly. No mean feat for an artist who has chosen to depict familiar realities, both contemplative and nostalgic, through a nuanced rear view of the human form, in his recent series titled ‘Meraki’.

“We invariably see frontal views or profiles in paintings. When I chose to focus on the back, I knew it would be a major challenge” says Rama Suresh. “But how to make the portrayal so expressive that it would immediately conjure up atmosphere and mood? My prolonged observation of people, their everyday activities and modes of simple, traditional dress plus a gradual refining of the impasto (knife painting) technique since my college days led to my signature style and this collection”.

M. Rama Suresh’s work  

‘Surrender’ dwells on a man clad in a rumpled ochre upper cloth and a white panchakacha, standing with bowed head between the gigantic feet of the Shravanabelagola Bahubali. Here, every textured stroke conveys that the human spirit is elevated, not dwarfed, by the omnipotence of divinity. ‘Ingress’ captures the moment when a villager is poised on the verge of ascending a flight of rough-hewn steps, his vivid saffron turban adding a dramatic slash of colour. In ‘Purohit’, the archaka’s vestments assume a life of their own.

Moving eloquence

A distinct empathy colours the series depicting young girls seated in personal spaces that radiate calm. There is an eloquence here that cannot leave you untouched. Clad in vibrant red and orange skirt and blouse these figures trigger a nostalgia trip to one’s growing up years.

M. Rama Suresh’s work  

Their single and double braids threaded with thickly strung jasmine flowers, the girls sit, facing the discoloured, yet reassuringly familiar walls of their homes or classrooms. Each wall proudly bears the marks of pencilled scribbles, maps and stick figures, alphabets and numbers – an endearing commentary on the innocence of childhood as well as the child’s spontaneity and imagination.

The acrylic on canvas works are imbued with a photographic quality, particularly in the precise detailing of the drapery. Sometimes dramatic, sometimes softened, pleats, folds and creases are a triumph of chiaroscuro. Architectural elements, whether temple pillars or pitted grey stone and plaster walls, are highlighted with just the right degree of detailing.

M. Rama Suresh’s work  

A sense of encompassing warmth pervades each composition. Enlisting texture, scale and colour, the artist nudges to life images embedded in the viewer’s caches of memory, ensuring that the familiar becomes the poetic.

The exhibition will be on till May 19 at the Soul Spice art gallery, 21/11 First Main Road, CIT Colony, Mylapore. Ph: 9840478886