At first glance, the gigantic panel on the wall looks like a banner of a 90s Tamil film. With its 3D effect and changing colours, the work by artist Yuvan Bothysathuvar is actually the core or the constant element of worldly lives led by most. Titled ‘Illusions,’ the panel is made from encyclopedias.
In the wall adjacent, there’s another panel — what looks like the scraped remains of a poster stuck on a shop’s closed shutters. And, it is indeed that, says the artist. Inspired by many elements of life and his earlier stint as a film banner artist, Bothysathuvar’s ongoing show ‘Shifting Paradigms: Learning From Life’ takes solace in monotones and bright colours.
Bothysathuvar says, “The one on illusion uses the same technique, which I had used in one of the banners I did in the early 90s. It was for a Parthiepan movie called Ulle Veliye. The colours change when you see it from different angles. The materials are from pages of an encyclopedia that I found at a newspaper mart.”
With other mediums like cansun papers that add a little cheer, Bothysathuvar’s portrayal of myriad truths — inconvenient and perceptive — carries life as a metaphor binding them together.
If his work ‘Anagram’ takes war images to convey how one term can mean many things through the rearrangement of letters, ‘Conversation’ makes the humdrum event of a directionless group discussion its focus.
“Colours can be a great medium for such works, as every mood has a colour associated with it. That is why I have dabbled in monotones predominantly. Black shows the darker side of life, while white stands for the brighter aspect,” he adds.
Hailing originally from Tiruvannamalai, Bothysathuvar was a banner artist for a large part of his early years in Chennai. Working on banners for political parties and films, he later pursued BFA and MFA at the Government College of Fine Arts in Chennai.
Dabbling in works of huge proportions and colours for the longest time in his formative years as an artist, Bothysathuvar says he took to the current medium after a personal crisis. “I found this to be the most effective and cathartic way to release the tribulations of the mind,” he said.
The exhibition is on at Gallery Veda, 4/22 Rutland Gate, 5th Street (1st floor), Nungambakkam till September 2. Contact 43090422 for details.