KOZHIKODE: Each frame has a different story to tell, yet all of them brush upon the same note, the similar undertone of how human nature has led to self-exploitation and exploitation of nature and this speaks aloud from each of the paintings displayed at the expo ‘Someone Tells a Story to Someone,' going on at the Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery.
Bindi Rajagopal, K V Jyothilal, Mohan Chalad, O Sunder and T R Udayakumar are the five artists behind the collections. All the the paintings which have strong messages speak volumes about the current condition of cities and the humans thriving in them.
One of the most striking images displayed at the expo is that by artist Bindi Rajagopal. It shows a bird's nest built atop a building under construction, and an eagle trying to feed its children. The backdrop to this sight gives us the answer as to why the bird chose the building under construction. A similar painting shows how Gautam Buddha is seen meditating on top of a roof with a growing grey city behind him.
O Sunder's meticulous use of different shades of greys to show the different shades of feminine emotions and the darker side of life is another set of paintings which grabs attention at the expo. “The painting named ‘She' shows the two extremes of a woman. The negative and the positive,” says Sunder. His work ‘Memories' is one of those paintings that is bound to stay in our memories for the days to come for its sheer simplicity and the concept used. “I have used acrylic on canvas and is based on my past experiences. The painting is a clock and the time is written counter clockwise and it shows how we would like to travel back in time,” he explains.
T R Udayakumar's painting of a tiny dress hung on a hanger might look like any other simple charcoal painting until you look closer.
The little dress, probably of a six or seven-year-old-girl, which has live butterflies fluttering around them with an innocent dove perched on top, is spotted with blood. Lying next to it is a pair of large boots and a large blotch of red colour that stands out next to it. The paintings speak volumes about the life of a traumatised young girl.
Udayakumar has mainly used charcoal medium in most of his paintings. Some of his paintings have a surreal feel to them as they try to explain the frailty of human behaviour. Artist Mohan Chalad uses colours to portray afterlife. “An absolute idealism of reality is a series which shows that death or life after death need not be something dark and grey,” says Mohan. Mohan's series called 'Evolution of Life,' displayed at the expo, shows the growth of life on earth from the big bang to its current stage.
“These paintings show how the space around and above us has gradually reduced,” he points out. K V Jyothilal is another artist, whose paintings, with vibrant colours touching deeper topics about human life, are on display at the expo. The exhibition will conclude on September 22.