Art speaks what words often fail to communicate. The more you learn about it, the more you understand, and so it is for Madhu Venugopalan and Ashok Kumar Gopalan. A unique blend of imagination and visuals from the surroundings can be found in the works of these artists, displayed at an exhibition titled Tales under the Monsoon Clouds.
“My works portray local people and culture,” says Madhu Venugopalan. Earlier, his series titled An Antique Piece of Love was exhibited in the Kashi Art Gallery, along with works of four international artists. He was quite amazed at Fort Kochi’s love for preservation of antiques and culture. This thought provoked him to start drawing certain antique objects that are preserved by people, and studied how they can be connected to the present life. He tries to speak about the importance of love, understanding and compassion in a culture than the constant quest to preserve antiques. “Humanity shouldn’t be lost in this quest,” he says.
Madhu’s works showcase various animal motifs, such as an elephant and donkey placed in the setting of a nuptial chamber that seeks to draw attention to its importance and how it’s often ignored and tortured. He says this can also happen in the case of human beings. Such personal, individualised dialogues are conveyed through his works. The background of the images is mostly the night sky which, according to him, represents the inner space of a person. Madhu wants to come out of his comfort zone and wishes to work on a much bigger canvas which he finds to be more challenging. “I draw by intuition, it just comes to me. I try to understand the how and why part of it later,” he says, when asked about the future themes he would like to work on.
Ashok Kumar Gopalan, on the other hand, tries to capture the surroundings that we see in our daily lives. “I draw the common situations in life which don’t point to anything in particular, rather it could be personal, environmental or political,” he says. He claims those experiences to be universal. “I believe that every person is similar. There may be regional, gender differences, but ultimately, the experiences we share are the same,” he says. Each viewer has their own interpretations, and those interpretations are molded by their mental states. The background of his works is a collage of images which represent the contemporary reality.
“I’m working on some new paintings that would be more straightforward, something that a layman would be able to connect with,” says Ashok Kumar. The paintings have been made using ink, water colour, pastels, acrylic, charcoal and oil. The visitors have great opinion of the works and are left in awe being exposed to such detailed and thought-provoking works. All art enthusiasts would find this exhibition a feast for their eyes.
The expo will stay open for the public till December 22 from 9 am to 7 pm at the Draavidia Gallery, Fort Kochi.
