KOCHI: The painting exhibition Deep Within by Delhi-based artist Roy Thomas addresses the growing concerns over climate change with 25 oil paintings. Roy, a native of Pala, is conducting a solo show in Kerala after a gap of 25 years.
In Deep Within, Roy reimagines classic sculptures from the Renaissance to modern times through the disturbing shades of climate change.
Here, Michelangelo’s La Pieta and Moses, Rodin’s The Thinker, the Statue of Liberty and India’s iconic Pillars of Ashoka are seen as submerged under the water — a powerful representation of the alarming days ahead. Sights of Gandhi, Buddha and Lenin underwater add thick layers of politics and philosophy to the series of works.
The works are a reflection of the artist’s anxieties about politics, history, nature and society. Roy says he chose timeless sculptures as the subjects of the series because he believed sculptures survive the centuries, not paintings.
Art critic Prof C B Sudhakaran inaugurated the exhibition at a function chaired by Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Secretary Balamuralikrishnan. Artist T Kaladharan, sculptor Prof N N Rimson, Prof Tensing and writer Rammohan Paliyath spoke at the event. The exhibition concludes on June 7.