Our social upbringing leaves lasting impression on our psyche. There are artists who are also inspired by their surroundings. Laxma Goud is one artist whose works are deeply rooted in his homeland and rural traditions.
Hailing from Telengana in Andhra Pradesh, Laxma got his art education in Hyderabad. He is a versatile artist who has not confined himself to any one medium of art. He has dabbled into all mediums with equal ease and has left his own mark. His works carry his stamp and it is not difficult to recognize it. His sketching are distorted, disfigured, stretched and are blown out of proportion. He has also used other mediums like glass paintings.
Having lived in his native place, Laxma’s works appear to be rustic, raw and potent.
He started his career painting in black and white and later on took colors. His figures are not individuals living on their own. His men and women loose their freedom as they enter into relation. Some critics have found his art provocative due to his stress on human genitalia and its mutilation, piercing, and decoration. His idea of sexual union seems to be derived from local traditions, which is sensuous, earthy and erotic. His couples have no inhibition in expressing their feeling in open. There appear to some cruelty and fantasy in his portrayals of figures.
He is an artist whose subjects are Indian people and its traditions. His portraits carry dynamism of Indian ethos. At many places his human figures amalgamate with beast and plants to create a new spirit. Here humans seize to be simple humans and acquire some devotional and supernatural powers. Some sketches also depict rural gods and goddesses. In most of his works, humans have are half-naked or naked. The images showcase figures who have only bones and faces carry wrinkles, lines, open mouths with one eyes shut. It appears that Laxma is trying to present the plight of peasant class on the canvas. His lines are eloquent in its expression. A viewer can look upon his creations with intimacy. Other works of his also include colorful landscapes, which depict countryside.
Laxma’s strength lies with his style which is a bridge between traditional folk art and modern imagery. Riding on the bridge he explores his subjects without any boundary in free and frank manner, so that his creations become passionate, intimate and vivacious.
Showing posts with label Art Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art Review. Show all posts
Friday, July 27, 2007
CHITTOPRASAD BHATTACHARYA
Artists can not be reformers but they can express their reformist concerns through their work. We can also express our helplessness and frustration by reaction. Chittoprasad Bhatttacharya did just that through his portrayals of Bengal Famine of 1943 and succeeding events in the world. He is reactionary painter with deep concern for his society. His paintings are a satire on the society.
Famine is the main theme of his caricatures and sketches and it provokes us. His sketches are not silent but they remind us of a time when people plunged into moral decay and while some were making money, poor people and peasants died of hunger and starvation. On the one hand there were traders who were minting money and supplying grains to the military as prices soared. Famine led to other evils as people sold their near ones and corruption made its way into the lives of the people. His impressions are real and he himself visited from one place to another enquiring about the people. He was deeply pained after witnessing the catastrophe and used canvas to communicate this pain, which has found its place in text books and are the one of the few reminders of the bygone time.
Like many great artists, he was a self-educated and did not have the luxury to attend a formal school of art. His creations are simple and easy to understand. We do not come across unwanted exaggeration in his works. He has deep sense of history and great understanding of events as is reflected in his works. He was a great artist and adopted himself to the needs and subjects. People may find some similarities between his works and those of Picasso, yet Chittoprasad’s creations are more influenced by Indian art and paintings of Jatakas which tell stories. Like ancient Indian paintings, his sketches are tell us stories and they are communicating. His lines are simple and forms near to nature in appearance as he presents human suffering.
Like other intellectuals of his time, he was under the influence of Communism. A keen observer of events he has also made communalism, colonialism and events related to world war his subject.
However, Chittaparsod has become synonymous with his sketches of human suffering from the Bengal Famine. And if we know the depth and nature of the famine today, we owe a lot to him and his moving images of the suffering.
Famine is the main theme of his caricatures and sketches and it provokes us. His sketches are not silent but they remind us of a time when people plunged into moral decay and while some were making money, poor people and peasants died of hunger and starvation. On the one hand there were traders who were minting money and supplying grains to the military as prices soared. Famine led to other evils as people sold their near ones and corruption made its way into the lives of the people. His impressions are real and he himself visited from one place to another enquiring about the people. He was deeply pained after witnessing the catastrophe and used canvas to communicate this pain, which has found its place in text books and are the one of the few reminders of the bygone time.
Like many great artists, he was a self-educated and did not have the luxury to attend a formal school of art. His creations are simple and easy to understand. We do not come across unwanted exaggeration in his works. He has deep sense of history and great understanding of events as is reflected in his works. He was a great artist and adopted himself to the needs and subjects. People may find some similarities between his works and those of Picasso, yet Chittoprasad’s creations are more influenced by Indian art and paintings of Jatakas which tell stories. Like ancient Indian paintings, his sketches are tell us stories and they are communicating. His lines are simple and forms near to nature in appearance as he presents human suffering.
Like other intellectuals of his time, he was under the influence of Communism. A keen observer of events he has also made communalism, colonialism and events related to world war his subject.
However, Chittaparsod has become synonymous with his sketches of human suffering from the Bengal Famine. And if we know the depth and nature of the famine today, we owe a lot to him and his moving images of the suffering.
F N SOUZA
Some artists are known for one particular style of paintings. Other are known for painting different styles. Francis Newton Souza falls into latter category with his figurative art, with so much variations and yet creating works which are repetitive in nature.
Born in Goa and brought up in Mumbai, Souza has been influenced by many ideas. He has to suffer the agony of loosing his father and then his sister and battled for his own life when he got small pox. He was brought up in devout catholic milieu and it left lasting impression on his ideas and imagination, which are reflected in his paintings of Saints and churches. Though, he could not become a priest as wished by his mother, he went on to portray divine power in various forms on the canvas. He was expelled from the Missionary school. However, he continued to paint his work on the lives of saints and divine power. A look at his church paintings shows that Souza was trying to showcase fear, Day of Judgment, social unrest and catastrophe on the canvas. Death, as witnessed by him, finds a prominent place in his works. Just as the thought of all this make us lost in our thoughts, his works are lost in landscape.
In pre-independence India, Souza was witness to the Indian freedom movement and also the Russian revolution of communism. He even joined Communist party and was one of the founding members of the Progressive Artist’s Movement. He however, soon became disillusioned with the communism when he was forced to portray the plight of proletariat on the canvas and left it as well. His association with the movement makes it clear that Souza was not a romantic painter. Though enrolled at JJ School of Art, he could not complete his education and was expelled due to his association with communist movement. Lack of fulfillment, it seems is in integral part of his life. He has to cope with this, though he never allowed this to affect his work and went ahead with his life and imagination.
Souza started his artistic career with nudism where women were the prime subject of exploration. The day he was expelled from school, he painted ‘Blue Lady’. His nudism are seminal works and it appears that Souza took great care to handle women in gentle manner, although distortion has also found its way in some of the works. His works of 1950s also depict love-making and women longing for love. In his other works of nudism, Souza creates women who look similar in terms of their curves, contour, style and glamour. He repeats himself while dealing with his women subject. His ‘Mother and Child’ (1962) and Standing Nude (1962) appear identical with same hair style, hair color, eye brows, body curves and the shape of the body. His nudism may appear provocative to persons of Victorian taste, but he has created a path for himself between the sculptures of Indian temples and European conventions. He seems to be fascinated by female body and deals with the subject in sensual manner so that women appear natural in most of the paintings. In some of his work, he has also tried to add glamour by showing women wearing crosses, bracelets, undergarments and shoulder –level tresses.
The complex issue of man-woman relation is also reflected in his works. In modern times, society has opened up and with it has come sexual tension and friction. This theme is reflected in his works. He captures each and every detail of women in his forms. His strokes are very careful and of soft nature.
Distortion is also prominent feature of Souza’s creations. His works are manifestations of fear and horror. In his personal life, he has to face many problems and most of the time he has to live with little money. He also faced tragedies in his personal life, which left their scar as well. At one time, his drinking also became a problem for himself. All this gives fear a permanent place in his mind where he creates his works! Hence, we find figures which are distorted out of proportion. Women with swollen bellies, disfigured face and eyes lead us to believe that he was trying to go beyond distortion. Men with beard and distorted appearance brings us near to demon and evil forces. Here, we find that Souza also was under the influence of Picasso and other contemporary European artists.
In his works, Souza was inspired by Indian classical art and European style. His women seem to be the mirror-image of ‘Yakshinis’ and women engraved in Khajuraho temples. His creation of love-making in sketch form and women applying make-up on the face, or simplying laying on one-side are reflection of Indian classical art as one can witness in the paintings of medieval India. Just as any artist is inspired by his surroundings, he was also inspired by the Portuguese architecture in Goa, life of a priest and the intermingling of two different cultures.
The work of Souza is the figurative representation of his own life and as he imagines it on the canvas. His is a synthesis of the Indian and European style and tradition, where he is trying to evolve as an artist without borrowing blindly from any of his influences. He is a reactionary without being a cynic.
Born in Goa and brought up in Mumbai, Souza has been influenced by many ideas. He has to suffer the agony of loosing his father and then his sister and battled for his own life when he got small pox. He was brought up in devout catholic milieu and it left lasting impression on his ideas and imagination, which are reflected in his paintings of Saints and churches. Though, he could not become a priest as wished by his mother, he went on to portray divine power in various forms on the canvas. He was expelled from the Missionary school. However, he continued to paint his work on the lives of saints and divine power. A look at his church paintings shows that Souza was trying to showcase fear, Day of Judgment, social unrest and catastrophe on the canvas. Death, as witnessed by him, finds a prominent place in his works. Just as the thought of all this make us lost in our thoughts, his works are lost in landscape.
In pre-independence India, Souza was witness to the Indian freedom movement and also the Russian revolution of communism. He even joined Communist party and was one of the founding members of the Progressive Artist’s Movement. He however, soon became disillusioned with the communism when he was forced to portray the plight of proletariat on the canvas and left it as well. His association with the movement makes it clear that Souza was not a romantic painter. Though enrolled at JJ School of Art, he could not complete his education and was expelled due to his association with communist movement. Lack of fulfillment, it seems is in integral part of his life. He has to cope with this, though he never allowed this to affect his work and went ahead with his life and imagination.
Souza started his artistic career with nudism where women were the prime subject of exploration. The day he was expelled from school, he painted ‘Blue Lady’. His nudism are seminal works and it appears that Souza took great care to handle women in gentle manner, although distortion has also found its way in some of the works. His works of 1950s also depict love-making and women longing for love. In his other works of nudism, Souza creates women who look similar in terms of their curves, contour, style and glamour. He repeats himself while dealing with his women subject. His ‘Mother and Child’ (1962) and Standing Nude (1962) appear identical with same hair style, hair color, eye brows, body curves and the shape of the body. His nudism may appear provocative to persons of Victorian taste, but he has created a path for himself between the sculptures of Indian temples and European conventions. He seems to be fascinated by female body and deals with the subject in sensual manner so that women appear natural in most of the paintings. In some of his work, he has also tried to add glamour by showing women wearing crosses, bracelets, undergarments and shoulder –level tresses.
The complex issue of man-woman relation is also reflected in his works. In modern times, society has opened up and with it has come sexual tension and friction. This theme is reflected in his works. He captures each and every detail of women in his forms. His strokes are very careful and of soft nature.
Distortion is also prominent feature of Souza’s creations. His works are manifestations of fear and horror. In his personal life, he has to face many problems and most of the time he has to live with little money. He also faced tragedies in his personal life, which left their scar as well. At one time, his drinking also became a problem for himself. All this gives fear a permanent place in his mind where he creates his works! Hence, we find figures which are distorted out of proportion. Women with swollen bellies, disfigured face and eyes lead us to believe that he was trying to go beyond distortion. Men with beard and distorted appearance brings us near to demon and evil forces. Here, we find that Souza also was under the influence of Picasso and other contemporary European artists.
In his works, Souza was inspired by Indian classical art and European style. His women seem to be the mirror-image of ‘Yakshinis’ and women engraved in Khajuraho temples. His creation of love-making in sketch form and women applying make-up on the face, or simplying laying on one-side are reflection of Indian classical art as one can witness in the paintings of medieval India. Just as any artist is inspired by his surroundings, he was also inspired by the Portuguese architecture in Goa, life of a priest and the intermingling of two different cultures.
The work of Souza is the figurative representation of his own life and as he imagines it on the canvas. His is a synthesis of the Indian and European style and tradition, where he is trying to evolve as an artist without borrowing blindly from any of his influences. He is a reactionary without being a cynic.
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