CHENNAI: How many of us know a friend who is a visual artist who invites us to their exhibition, but we skip it for lack of understanding? If the effort was made to visit the exhibition, then was it to fulfil a social obligation or to catch a peek into the artist’s head space? More often than not, it is the former, isn’t it?!
Having established in our previous edition of Arty Affairs, that sports and art share commonality, as a connoisseur of both, my observation of the society is that while intelligent comments, critiquing a game of cricket can drag for hours among friends; when it comes to art, invariably the conversation drifts immediately to politics or weather after a funny one in the group cracks a silly joke.
Even investment bankers and billionaires who like listening to cool stories on art show superficial interest so that they can narrate these stories in their social circles. Their exhibitionism is no less than how Neil deGrasse Tyson would describe the US government’s interest in space exploration. Can we bring about some change in our approach to art? Can we learn a few things about Indian artists so that we can enjoy them and their works with the same intensity and intent of how they create?
To make a beginning, I caught up with artist AV Ilango to understand his thoughts on art and society. Conversing with him is such a delight as he is convinced that appreciation is inherent in all and it can act as a bridge between the created and the creator. He says, “Of all lives on Earth, human species are among the most intelligent beings,” and explains how the human body has evolved to become so efficient and therefore beautiful.
He continues, “Thus, admiring and appreciating the human form becomes the foremost job of an artist. Every artist — musician, dancer, sculptor or painter, is exploring the inherent skill, emotional richness or the intellectual potential of this form.
As visual artists, we keep sharing the milestones of our engagement with space and time as a journey using various mediums. When one follows the journey and learns to appreciate the nuances of artistic expression, it makes them a rasika.” On learning how to approach art, he says, “While we naturally associate seeing with the eyes, the deeper sense of seeing is the ability to see with all our senses as well as our intuition.”
Some parameters for seeing would include — how has the artist treated the canvas? Where are the places that our eyes linger while seeing a painting? In those moments, how are lines used by the artist? Are they bold or fine, continual or flowing? Then, comes the question: how should we perceive it: as a whole or as vibrations of light and darkness created by the artist? Art, being a dialogue involving the mind and heart, to appreciate a work of an artist, it may also be required to know a little more about the artist.
Ilango’s approach to art is by silencing his mind for the surge of artistry to flow through. In order to appreciate his work, it is expected to first have a contemplative, receptive or content mind for absorbing the lines on the canvas. Only when the mind is pensive, will one be able to notice the nuances incorporated by the artist.
For instance, in the treatment of the bull, Ilango has shown the vigour and vitality of the bull in its physicality, ready to charge. But the unseen aspects of the work is the posturing of the bull: head is shown with a lot of restraint. Although contradictory, both natures of the bull are reflecting an aspect of personality and the poignancy of the artist.
In contrast to the charging bull, the exaggerated over-arch showing the cow’s feet raised up takes the viewer’s attention to notice the butterfly it is chasing. This work mirrors a mood of passion, chirpiness and excitement in the artist. The colours used here are bright, which compliments and adds to the mood of the artist.
Hailing from Gopichetipalayam, Ilango’s frequent visits and stay in the native town have allowed him to absorb the bovine principles completely. In the cluster of cows seated, which is among his early works, one can see the familiarity and dexterity in the composure of the subjects. The point of admiration in his art on the whole is how he uses the lines minimalistically to bring out forms.
For the art to become a fulfilling aesthetic experience, the engagement with the art needs to be with the same intensity of the artist when it was created. If a good work of art is absorbed rightly by a rasika, it will never leave the mind. It will occupy some crevasse, not only shaping and refining one’s taste, but it will also influence their perception, increasing their sensitivity to the immediate environment.