An artist who believes in colours & the process

Thiruvananthapuram: Art should not necessarily reveal anything, says V Ramankutty, a health economist, epidemiologist and Emeritus professor at Sree Chitra Institute of Medical Sciences.
He presents around 40 of his paintings at the exhibition titled ‘Promises to Keep’ at Amuseum Art Gallery, Vellayambalam.
If he is to trace the origins of indulging in art, his memory takes him to the time at his ‘tharavadu’ at Kodungallur, where he started drawing before learning how to write.
“My mother used to be a music teacher for a short while then. I remember the cement floors where I used to sketch with colour chalk. After I turned three, we came to Thiruvananthapuram and settled here,” said Ramankutty, son of former chief minister C Achutha Menon.
In his world of abstract art, colours and the process matter more than the meaning a painting should embody.
“Titles are also one way of giving something for the viewer to relate to. For example, ‘Life forms’ is a painting of mine for which many said that it looks like organisms under a microscope. I see it as wordplay, ‘forms’ being a noun or a verb,” he explains.
Without a formal education in arts, he learnt and trained himself mainly by reading books.
He is also planning to release a book or a show specifically for political cartoons. The exhibition is open from 10.30am to 11.30pm till November 28.