Sometimes the most professional portraits are perhaps by the most immature artists. Picasso was spot on when he rightly said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist, once we grow up.” The way children perceive art is certainly fresh and every stroke of their work in untainted by influence of ‘great art’ yet remains contemporary, reflecting the child’s perception of their surroundings.
Going by that logic, Iconart Gallery is hosting The Natural Child, a collection of 40 frames created by nine children.
Explaining the show, Avani Rao Gandra, the curator says, “Child art is the most purest way of expression. It’s also an extremely curious form as I think it is very interesting to understand their perception of things around them. The Natural Child even more so interesting because the child artists are actually children of various practicing artists’ from the city and have hence been brought up in an environment where they are surrounded by art. Reflecting that is the essence of the show.”
Kamalini K, Veera Chand, Jesmar and Zan Paul, Manasvi G, Nani Vishal G, Divesh Reddy B, Chanakya Reddy B and Srihamsini form the body of child artists. All of them are between the age of four and eight. However, some of the works on display are from the time when the children were around eight months old.
“I don’t like tutored art. Their way of representing people, their grandparents, pets, trees and everything around them, without being taught is intriguing,” says Avani.
She also says that their art is closest to modern art as the colours they use are very bright and their approach is very modern, be it colour form or composition. “They cut down on the detail and are more interested in simple art. For them flowers are shocking pink, instead of subtle colours and sun is a brighter yellow. Their paintings are happy, positive and cheerful.”
The frames do tell a tale, and the paintings are natural, spontaneous and instinctive. “The fact that their artist parents do not impose their technique on their kids gives them a whole new uninhibited perspective on things,” Avani Rao explains.
Jesmar and Zan Paul’s father, Glowar Paul, a fine arts teacher at Telugu University, says that he learns a lot from his children. “I completely believe kids are born artists. My kids grew up watching me, which is why they are regularly in touch with art. My son who loves playing with colours unlike other kids, is my first critique. Whenever he looks at my paintings, he has only two things to say – Nice or not nice.”
The show The Natural Child is on till November 17 from 11:30 am to 7 pm at the Iconart Gallery