Annanagar is a clueless space in Chennai, when it comes to Art events in the city. It's a question that keeeps nudging at many in the city, why certain pockets of the city are the favoured hosts to bulk of the art events. Annanagar, despite all its potential and promise has not managed to lay any significant claim to this art space. Initiatives by VR mall in recent times could be seen as an attempt at correcting this course, but for me they lack in intensity and they are too clouded in the mall environment and fail to make the impact, for instance, that exhibits in Phoenix mall manage to create.
It is in this context that a fledgling initiative by Madras Art collective, came as a sweet news to me and made me look up to the photography show they were hosting over a weekend with great interest. I was even more eager to catch up with the show as i had been following works of Sharan Devkar, one of the participants, and found his oeuvre to be of an exciting range to look up to.
The location of the venue in an apartments besides Thirumangalam metro station, as given in the address in the poster, set me up for what to expect of the venue. For these are the typical TNHB apartments that could not be missed by anyone who has been in the vicinity and can be easily traced to the 1960s when Annanagar was being developed as a planned settlement, post the Industrial exhibition held around Tower park. But what set me all excited was the revelation of how the energy of a bunch of art work can transform an otherwise modest and mundane space. It was this overwhelming experience and revelation that was the hallmark of this exhibition for me.
The exhibition had works of 6 artists- 3 from Chennai and 3 from other states.
Divya's works were an exploration of a series of unobtrusive intrusions into and capturing poignant moments of the subtle drama in the everyday and the personal space, as evident around her living space, and at times in the public sphere. The potential drama played out by these passing moments is immense and can be very moving for a viewer open to take in the flux that transpires in this series. Adding rhythm and mood to the pathos in the photos is the mood she sets out in the short note so aptly quoting from the poem 'Somehow we survive' by Dennis Brutus. The poem and the photos compliment each other perfectly in an act of such rare and pulsing resonance between two art forms.
Shankar Devkar's work was a series of diptychs put together in the form of little books. the books had an interesting cover design, apparently to suggest what was inside. However, in the absence of some prompting i had not figured out the idea of the book and was for quite sometime puzzled only looking at the cover design. When i approached Sharan with my anxiety, i was told that i had to open the books to figure it out. it was a fascinating world of surprising correlations and interesting patterns and pictures that was waiting to be explored inside. each book held a small bundle of joy in the unwrapping of the element of surprise in the found object/ pattern and the deciphering of a relation between the two pages of the book and finally looping back to figure how the cover design fits into the puzzle. Sharan's work was also interesting in that it held the promise of engaging a viewer with a playful bend of mind and equally as well with someone open to engaging deeply with the subject.
Cyril Paulrose' 'Dark room' was a kind of triptych with portraits of his grandmother seated in her living space. This work again resonated so well with the Whistler's 'Mother', that the artist had drawn inspiration from. The work was a meditation on loneliness, old age, helplessness and an eternal waiting. The lighting and the profiles helped improvise the mood of the series.
Sushavan Nandy's work " Ebbing away of identity is a deeply engrossing work on the brunt borne by a people and a landscape as a result of lifestyle that degrades our environment and life's priorities that put livelihoods in danger. It is a stark documentation of a slowly dying habitat and the lives that hang on it's edges. The gravity of the issues this work has undertaken to project is immense and very moving. They are a mix of moods of poetic longing, a clinical procedure and a mournful lament.
Punith Hiremath's 'Religious dip' is a playful and disturbing work around double exposure, throwing disturbing questions on our ideas of the sacred and the profane.
Vivek Mariappan's work around the kitchen was a familiar work from an exhibit in a CPB show. The idea of locating it in the kitchen space of the facility somehow did not work for me.
It was exciting and exhilarating to witness this show, and be witness to a historical moment when a bunch of young talents have come together and silently work on shaking Annanagar out of it's deep, laid back, retired, slumber.
This Monday morning, the space would have transformed back into it's usual office bay. I had insisted the show should be on for a longer time for more people to engage with it, and have requested them to put this show back on during the next weekend as well. I am hoping more people do get to engage with this show.
My sincere and heartfelt salutes to the people of MAD collective who have taken the heart to host and support art and activate a locality. May this breed prosper.
 |
| pc Sharan's fb page |
The location of the venue in an apartments besides Thirumangalam metro station, as given in the address in the poster, set me up for what to expect of the venue. For these are the typical TNHB apartments that could not be missed by anyone who has been in the vicinity and can be easily traced to the 1960s when Annanagar was being developed as a planned settlement, post the Industrial exhibition held around Tower park. But what set me all excited was the revelation of how the energy of a bunch of art work can transform an otherwise modest and mundane space. It was this overwhelming experience and revelation that was the hallmark of this exhibition for me.
 |
| pc: Sharan's fb page |
The exhibition had works of 6 artists- 3 from Chennai and 3 from other states.
Divya's works were an exploration of a series of unobtrusive intrusions into and capturing poignant moments of the subtle drama in the everyday and the personal space, as evident around her living space, and at times in the public sphere. The potential drama played out by these passing moments is immense and can be very moving for a viewer open to take in the flux that transpires in this series. Adding rhythm and mood to the pathos in the photos is the mood she sets out in the short note so aptly quoting from the poem 'Somehow we survive' by Dennis Brutus. The poem and the photos compliment each other perfectly in an act of such rare and pulsing resonance between two art forms.
The work of the poet is not to restore the connection between the inner and the outer, but to conjure phrases and images which make the painful difference between the self and the rest of the world all the more acute and laden with pathos.- David Ayers in 'Modernism'
Shankar Devkar's work was a series of diptychs put together in the form of little books. the books had an interesting cover design, apparently to suggest what was inside. However, in the absence of some prompting i had not figured out the idea of the book and was for quite sometime puzzled only looking at the cover design. When i approached Sharan with my anxiety, i was told that i had to open the books to figure it out. it was a fascinating world of surprising correlations and interesting patterns and pictures that was waiting to be explored inside. each book held a small bundle of joy in the unwrapping of the element of surprise in the found object/ pattern and the deciphering of a relation between the two pages of the book and finally looping back to figure how the cover design fits into the puzzle. Sharan's work was also interesting in that it held the promise of engaging a viewer with a playful bend of mind and equally as well with someone open to engaging deeply with the subject.
'art should not be judged as the simple impression of life, by standards of realism and fidelity, but should be understood as a stylized meditation which reflects the artist's creative and synthetic mode of seeing..' Roger fry in 'Vision and Design'
Cyril Paulrose' 'Dark room' was a kind of triptych with portraits of his grandmother seated in her living space. This work again resonated so well with the Whistler's 'Mother', that the artist had drawn inspiration from. The work was a meditation on loneliness, old age, helplessness and an eternal waiting. The lighting and the profiles helped improvise the mood of the series.
Sushavan Nandy's work " Ebbing away of identity is a deeply engrossing work on the brunt borne by a people and a landscape as a result of lifestyle that degrades our environment and life's priorities that put livelihoods in danger. It is a stark documentation of a slowly dying habitat and the lives that hang on it's edges. The gravity of the issues this work has undertaken to project is immense and very moving. They are a mix of moods of poetic longing, a clinical procedure and a mournful lament.
Punith Hiremath's 'Religious dip' is a playful and disturbing work around double exposure, throwing disturbing questions on our ideas of the sacred and the profane.
Can art or any force be independent of the two great forces of imperialism and nationalism. James Joyce in 'Portrait of the Artist..'
Vivek Mariappan's work around the kitchen was a familiar work from an exhibit in a CPB show. The idea of locating it in the kitchen space of the facility somehow did not work for me.
It was exciting and exhilarating to witness this show, and be witness to a historical moment when a bunch of young talents have come together and silently work on shaking Annanagar out of it's deep, laid back, retired, slumber.
 |
| pc Sharan's fb page |
This Monday morning, the space would have transformed back into it's usual office bay. I had insisted the show should be on for a longer time for more people to engage with it, and have requested them to put this show back on during the next weekend as well. I am hoping more people do get to engage with this show.
My sincere and heartfelt salutes to the people of MAD collective who have taken the heart to host and support art and activate a locality. May this breed prosper.
These avant gardists considered themselves to represent the few who had to advance into unknown territory in order that the rest of the society could follow..
4 comments:
Exlnt review VJ. Your encouraging words will definitely motivate the youngsters for sure. Thanking you with regards,
Shankar Parthasarathy
(Sharon's dad)👍
Woww.. good to hear from you Sir.. nice cover designs for the Kalakku work btw.. i apologize for not crediting it to you in the post..
Though I was unable to attend the event, this review not only summarised but also brought a glimpse of the exhibition before my eyes. Good work bro and all the best for the artists.
Thank you for the kind words
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