To trigger a dialogue between dreams and reality, that’s how this showcase hopes to engage its viewers. To achieve this, Dilip Narayan, the owner of this 10-year-old Mattancherry-based OED gallery has roped in six artists from across the state and beyond. Via this exhibition titled Landforms, he also hopes to honour one of the luminaries of Kerala’s contemporary art world, Rajan Krishnan.
The primary objective is to shatter the traditional notion of landscape art—as a simple re-presentation of mother nature. Here, artists are encouraged to tap into their subconscious and depict a fantastical landscape with non-naturalistic colours and experimental applications on mixed media, fabric, watercolour, paper, etc.
Stripping ordinary away
The concept note about Landforms was prepared by noted art historian (and faculty of University of Hong Kong) Kathleen Wyma. But why is Rajan’s work the primary focus of this show? “Here, landscapes reflect the weird and sometimes obscure imagery of dreams and fantasy. Some of these works lack recognisable elements such as mountains or vistas, but they show us that the human psyche is complex and yearning to be explored. Rajan was the go-to authority in Kerala for creating such surreal landscapes,” states Dilip, adding that the event will begin on December 10 and run through till February 10.
“Besides Rajan, Kathleen has also picked the works of artists whose socio-cultural backgrounds reflect in their paintings,” he informs. The six other artists who will also try to help the viewer reach a plane between the real and the imaginary—Abul Hisham, Dibin Thilakan, K P Pradeepkumar, Ranjith Raman, Sujith S N and Sanam Narayanan.
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