BENGALURU: Many years ago, Yusuf Arakkal was working on a 15-piece series on Jesus Christ for an exhibition in Vatican City. Unfortunately, the exhibition never materialised but the huge paintings bore the signature Arakkal style.
“My fascination with Christ or Sri Krishna has nothing to do with my proximity to any religion or for that matter, religion at all. It’s about their personalities,” the artist had told this paper in 2013.This was the quintessential Arakkal, known not just for his figurative art but also his humanism, a man as much committed to art as he was sensitive to the human situation. Arakkal, 71, who died on Tuesday following a cardiac arrest, was born in Kerala into the Muslim royal family. His parents died when he was young and the hardships he faced in his early years sharpened his sensibility and manifested in his paintings.
For his passion for art, he enrolled himself at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat when he was only 17. The city became his home. It nurtured the artist in him while he helped shape the art scene in Bengaluru. His art works that dot the city are testimony to that connect.
His creative skills weren’t confined to his paintings, murals or sculptures, they found expression in his writing and poetry. Artist S G Vasudev recalled, “Yusuf created a style of his known. He was respected by all.” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon CMD and one the largest collectors of Arakkal’s works, said, “He promoted young artists in a selfless way and many of them came from his alma mater. He will be remembered as an artist who belongs to the highest rank and leaves an indelible impression on the art world in India.”