FICA Emerging Artist Award 2013, Ways of the Road show, and more..

NEWS

Contemporary art galore

(work by Seema Kohli)

Gallery Space, Hyderabad presents a group show of art works by artists from all over the country. The show presents some eminent and well known names like Seema Kohli, Ramesh Gorjala, Bhairu Raghuram, Srinivas Reddy, Anand Panchal and Vennimalai.

Most of the artists work in distinct figurative styles developed over a duration of time into contemporary expressions. 

The show will be on view till 30th September 2013.

Ways of the Road

(Photograph at the show)

Alliance Francaise de Delhi presents a photography exhibition by  photographer Fabien Chaurau. Titled, ‘Ways of the Road” the show was created during the  3 week artist residency held in the village of Partapur in Rajasthan. 

The residency, Sandarbh, was a curated one with a special focus on the bus that runs through the village and the route it follows. More than the bus, the artist found himself preoccupied with documenting the road with its myriad elements.

The show is on view from the 26th of September 2013.

Kartik Sood awarded FICA - EAA 2013

(Work by Kartik Sood)

The Emerging Artist Award is one of the four annual support programmes offered by FICA. It seeks to promote young artists, studying or practicing in India, who demonstrate extraordinary skill and promise in the visual arts. The EAA 2013 is presented in collaboration with Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council, New Delhi, and Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi. The recipient of the award receives a ninety-day residency in Switzerland in 2014, and a solo exhibition at the Vadehra Art Gallery in August 2015. This year the Emerging Artist Award was given to Vadodara based artist Kartik Sood.

The jury was impressed with the distinct visual quality of Kartik Sood's works which have been developed as stories, sometimes autobiographical but always with strong literary references, subtly coloured, layered and painterly. His video works dealing with issues of trauma and mysticism was acknowledged for its narrative form and mature handling of the subject without the burden of conspicuous metaphors. Sood's commitment to experimenting with new technologies and possibilities of sound came across as bold and confident.

N E W S- An artist statement

All India Fine arts & Crafts Society, New Delhi presents a group show of young and upcoming artists’ works. The show is titled, ‘N E W S - An artist statement’. 
The participating artists are Sumita Chakravarti, Chanchal, Rama Suresh, Aditi Gemini, Kishore Roy, Uday Goswami, Johnson and Subrata Biswas.

On display are paintings rendered in oils and acrylic on canvas along with other mediums like ink and charcoals. The show will be inaugurated by eminent actor and Member of Parliament, Raj Babbar on the 27th of September  2013 at 11:30 am

The show will be on view till 30th September 2013.

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

Sketch of a Cartoonist

Gifted Ramki is not a professional, yet he is flooded with requests for wedding-related drawings.

(Ramki's wedding related drawing)

He is not a professional cartoonist. He is the Chief Coordinator at Coimbatore’s The Eye Foundation, a PR and event management expert. But Ramki’s first love is drawing cartoons. And this fascination is so deeply rooted that Ramki has now started off a new trend.

He had a flair for drawing cartoons from his school days, but Ramki took it up as a hobby only a few years ago. What triggered him off was an incident at a bank. To pass the time, while standing in a queue at a bank to withdraw cash, he started scribbling on a piece of paper. A gentleman, standing next to him, was closely observing this. He appreciated the cartoons Ramki had drawn in the course of a few minutes. The stranger’s encouragement inspired Ramki to take up cartooning seriously. In due course, he proved to be good at it.

(Ramki's wedding related drawing)

Recently, at the request of Dena Bank, Coimbatore, he drew two cartoons for the organisation, which were appreciated by the Branch Manager, who got them laminated and displayed them in the bank. These cartoons never fail to grab the attention of the customers.

A regular traveller between Chennai and Coimbatore, Ramki has made it a habit to start drawing in his notebook from the moment he takes his seat in the train. His co-passengers are often astonished by his skilful work, despite the jerks of the train. Ramki remembers an incident when some co-passengers gave him a poem, based on which he drew a few cartoons instantly, which were highly appreciated. He now has a collection of about 30 notebooks of his cartoons.

Depicting marriage rites

(Ramki's wedding related drawing)

Once, a young man, who was getting married, requested Ramki to capture in cartoons all the events of the wedding. These were later displayed at the entrance of the hall during the wedding and everyone was impressed by his talent. The foreigners among the guests evinced keen interest in them as they depicted the various customs associated with a traditional South Indian wedding. Many of them took photographs of Ramki standing next to his creations.

An Indian staying in the U.S., saw his work on Internet and requested Ramki to do a similar job for his sister’s wedding. This time, Ramki decided to deviate from his conventional style. He collected the photos of some important relatives, cut out the heads and pasted them on bodies that he drew. These cartoons, which reflected all the rituals connected with the wedding, were attention-grabbers.

(Ramki's Wedding related drawing)

These days, Ramki is flooded with demands from friends and acquaintances to draw wedding-related cartoons. For which, he works late into the night while listening to old Tamil songs. So far, he has created six series of wedding cartoons, which have received fantastic responses from people.

It has now become Ramki’s daily habit to paste his cartoons, conveying positive messages, on his office board. One such work depicted the Police Commissioner’s advice to the public on ‘How the occupants of multi-storied apartments should interact with one another.’

(Cartoonist Ramki)

He admires R.K. Laxman, to whom he once sent his cartoons and the veteran promptly rang him up and appreciated his effort. Ramki is grateful to cartoonist Triambak Sharma for his continuous encouragement and guidance. A number of daily newspapers, magazines and books have published Ramki’s cartoons. He draws at least 15 cartoons before going to bed every night.

A member of the Kerala Cartoons Academy, Ramki’s skills have got him the popular tag, ‘Wedding Cartoon Specialist.’

(Report by M L Narasimham for The Hindu)