KOCHI: Stories are always part of everyone’s life and are best expressed through paintings which not only show the creativity of the artist but also conveys meaningful stories. Asanthan V K’s paintings tell inspiring stories about enlightenment through his communist paintings. The 49-year-old Asanthan V K has created a version of his paintings at the ongoing exhibitions at Indriyam Art Gallery, Mattancherry and Durbar Hall Art Gallery. He says his interest towards paintings began early on. “My music teacher in school was the one who spotted that I had a talent. He inspired me to work further on my art,” said Asanthan.
The two paintings of the artist exhibited at Indriyam Art Gallery titled Englightenment is a painting inspired by the story of Govindan and Sidharthan who go to see Buddha. The artist has beautifully mixed in red, yellow and brown in his painting. “I have painted a picture of Govindan who kisses Sidharthan and gets enlighted. I was inspired by this story so I decided to work on it,” said Asanthan. The artist uses mediums like acrylic, water colour and henna.
Asanthan has received national and international fame for his work. With an expressive heterogeneity reflective of the country’s scale and of the astonishing economic and cultural transformation it has witnessed over the past years, the artist dreams to go back to the golden era where men, trees, birds and animals lived in harmony with their folklores, righteousness, modesty earth and its art. He strongly suggests its endurance through his art. In his paintings titled Dream 1 and Dream 2, he has brought about problems faced by the people in their dailylife.
“When I used to live in Kochi, I saw the difficulty faced by the public in getting sufficient water to drink. This has been incorporated in one of my paintings,” said the artist. Another painting of his reflects the fishing tradition practiced by the people of Kochi.He has conducted about 130 exhibitions and participated in 70 camps. For his paintings, he has received many awards including the Sidhartha Foundation Award in 2017.