For Vikas Kovoor, a 34-year-old artist, his paintings are his life, literally. He is desperately depending on the sale of his paintings to prolong his life, with his kidneys giving up for the second time.
An exhibition of Vikas’ paintings, which is in progress at Mann, the Art Cafe at Chalappuram here, is the third event organised to raise funds for the treatment of the ailing artist.
Vikas was first diagnosed with kidney failure in 2010. It was his mother Pankajam who donated her kidney then to save her second son. His father passed away while he was undergoing treatment.
Vikas lived a normal life for eight years, only to be diagnosed with the illness yet again. “He is undergoing dialysis every two days, each costing around ₹600. We are in a desperate search for a matching kidney for him, and around ₹25 lakh is required for surgery and treatment,” says Baiju M. Mangalath, another artist and a friend of Vikas. Moreover, he recently underwent hernia surgery and is physically week. Friends and students of Vikas had organised a three-day exhibition at Mananchira last year and another in Bengaluru a few months later to raise funds for his treatment. “The proceeds of the events were not enough to meet even transportation expenses,” says Baiju.
An art teacher, Vikas runs Agora, an art school at Thondayad. Having learned mural painting from Pookkad Kalalayam, he trains his students in water colour, acrylic painting, oil painting, and mural painting.
Around 20 works of Vikas, in various streams, are on show at Mann Cafe under the Mental Health Action Trust. The exhibition, which began on June 1, will go on till the end of June.