KOCHI:“Nudity becomes a taboo when we associate it with something derogatory. When I paint nudity, I paint my mother, respecting her body, that for me, represents the entire concept of womanhood”, says artist Sreeni Saseendran (30) known as the ‘Street Dog’ while welcoming guests to his solo art exhibition titled ‘A, Aa,
E, Ee, U,Uu’ – the first letters to be learned in Malayalam language. For him, it is not only his first attempt to collectively exhibit his art, but also the initial step to his bigger dreams.”I have been painting from my first grade. For me, art is both passion and service. In my opinion, artists are the most violent people. They react to the commotion through their paintings, etching their experiences on each issue boldly on canvas,” he said. The exhibition, which was inaugurated by his mother Shylaja R, discusses the sincere and unpolished thoughts expressed through the most elegant yet difficult medium, watercolours.
Sreeni, who took his artistic name ‘Street Dog’ says it represents untamed animals who ruled the street from dusk till dawn. For him, his art is impulsive, rustic and raw just like a street dog.
Surrealism, realism, impressionism and portraits blends into 88 vibrant frames in the ‘Fruit for Art’ space at Cafe Papaya, Palarivattom. “Feminism is a concept that has consciously influenced my works. Art is the image that I visualize in my head and it is something which I have a right to portray”, he says. Amongst painter Vincent Van Gogh, Jesus, Lord Shiva and the mystical tribal woman from Wayanad, hangs a melancholic portrait of Irom Sharmila, that exhibits the artist’s disappointment on the betrayal of the great visionary of Manipur by her people. For him, every painting is the aftermath of painful experiences and memories associated with the portrayed subject.
“The paintings exhibited are a collection of works from November 2016 to 2017 November. Each painting is the portrayal of an emotional journey that I went through at that particular moment. Each painting here has something to say about my life in that past 365 days,” he adds.
Apart from the paintings, the exhibition also features the band Azazeel and the students from ‘Kanavu’, an alternative education institution from Wayanad that works exclusively for the education and betterment of tribal kids who faces socio-economic challenges along with various cultural programmes which were performed on December 23. The exhibition will conclude in the first week of January. Exhibited in a soulful ambience, these paintings by Street Dog would be a voyage through the realms of vivid experiences of the artist.