Biography: Perspective on Plurality, Cat-Walk Blue Moon and more..

NEWS

Biography: Perspective on Plurality

(Work on display)

Creativity Art Gallery, New Delhi, presents a group show of eminent contemporary artists of the country. Titled ‘Biography: Perspective on Plurality’, the show uses biography as a concept where versatility and confrontations of art form will be celebrated on the same arena. 

The aim behind this combination is to underline the fact which essentially deals with their conscious. They live in a state where things require our extra efforts to get solved or sorted. They always look for a moment of leisure and relate themselves to the school or college days. 
The concept of Biography is just to frame out the time for their own and trace out the multiple perspectives in single glance. An evening with unique colors and creativity will be adorned with enthusiasm and journey of 40 artists. The show is conceptualized to put forward the best senior contemporary artists from India such as Farhad Hussain, George Martin, Murlai Cheeroth, T.M. Aziz, Jagdish Chinthala and Chandra Bhattacharya etc. Participating artists are Anwar Khan, Aditee Garg, Binoy Verghese, Birendra Pani, Babu Xavier, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Babita Kanda, George Martin PJ, Gopal Samantray, Ratilal Kansodariya, Sailesh Mohan Ojha and others.

The show is on view till 9th January 2013.

Sensorial Perspective

( Work on display)

Third Eye - Indian Art Gallery, Bangalore presents the two person show titled 'Sensorial Perspective'. The participating artists are Sunil Jadhav and Pooja Gokul. 

Focusing on Indian contemporary art, the artists  have displayed works adhering to the Indian sensibilities with a global appeal. Be it abstractions or figurative work in oil and acrylics on canvas or charcoal and pencil works on paper, the show displays vibrancy and sensitivity of styles and imaginations.
The works intend to portray peace and solace to the viewer by the upcoming artists from the field today.

The show is on view till 31st December 2013.

Cat-Walk Blue Moon

( Work by Arpana Caur)

Sanchit Art Gallery, New Delhi presents a group show of artworks by eminent contemporary artists of the country today. The show is titled, ‘Cat-Walk Blue Moon’ and displays some exquisite works of art in various styles of figuration and abstraction.

The participating artists are Thota Vaikuntam, Arpana Caur and Neeraj Goswami. 
Each artist brings their own distinctive style to the canvas, ensuring the variety and depth to the display.

The show is curated by Arun Ghose and will be on view till 19th January 2014.

Guage The Gaze

( work on display)

Gallery Pioneer presents the evocative works of artists Vikash Kalra as part of their display at the India Art Festival 2013 to be held at Nehru Center, Mumbai.
An energetic, passionate, self taught contemporary artist who entered the creative world for his love of art, he will exhibit his paintings on oil canvas for the first time in Mumbai.

His work titled ‘Guage the gaze’ which is a solo exhibition put up by the artist will showcase a collection of 30 oil paintings, 15 sculptures and drawings. Marked by a bold use of colours, Kalra’s art is all about expressing the self by painting imaginary forms, landscapes and faces. The artist’s work is a reflection of the hidden, darker and animalistic side of human beings.

The show is on view from 19th December to 22nd December 2013.

(News reports by Sushma Sabnis)

FEATURE

The dance of light

Step behind Janardhan Korremulla’s camera to see images of the Kumbh Mela transform into pieces of art

(Janardhan Korremulla. Photo: K. Ramesh Babu)

Janardhan Korremulla travelled to Haridwar two years, capturing moods, moments, people and the energy of the Kumbh Mela. The Mela has, with time, become a must-visit for both professional and amateur photographers. Despite the innumerable photography workshops with its focus on Kumbh, photographers never seem to tire of training their lenses on the Mela.

With his group of friends, Janardhan was also at the Kumbh Mela, documenting the ‘Ganga aarti’ and soaking in the uplifting energy of the event. The advantage of shooting from a high vantage point made him notice the play of light on the water.

(Janardhan has extensively documented dance and theatre in Hyderabad, since the early 80s.)

The twilight hour guaranteed great photographs and videos, but there was something about the water that made him stay on, much after the devotees had left. He trained his focused eye on the water around 9-9.30p.m. and observed the patterns created by the changing lights. “The energy from people, the force with which the water flows and the dance of light have to be experienced,” he says, as he shows us the photographs that are now part of ‘Energy in motion – water’ exhibition at Goethe Zentrum.

(The advantage of shooting from a high vantage point made him notice the play of light on the water.)

Janardhan extended his stay in Haridwar by three days and went back to the water each night. “I was capturing both water and the light bouncing off it. I wanted to photograph the flow of water and yet arrest it for the right duration thereby showing the activity on the surface. The ‘aarti’ area is lit up in colourful lights and that created magic on the water surface. I used to look into the lens for a long time and the moment I felt there was something worth capturing, I would click,” he explains.

(Janardhan’s commercial body of work is largely industrial and advertising photography.)

The images captured by Janardhan have a surreal, painting-like quality to them as colours merge to create tonal gradations that added to the beauty of the images. The artistic quality of images is a result of his work that spans three decades. He pins it down to understanding the basics of photography — shutter speed, aperture and ISO — and having a fair knowledge of post processing the images. “Many masters of photography believed that capturing an image was only 50 per cent of the job and the rest of it happened in the dark room, which many photographers don’t give importance to. The dark room is where one controlled the tonal values. Now, in digital age, one has to post process images irrespective of which software is put to use. Post processing can make a good picture better, a better image fine and a fine image a piece of art,” he asserts. Janardhan sights the example of Ansal Adams who believed in capturing images based on his post-processing technique. “I learnt by observing the work of several masters,” he says, also mentioning Henri Cartier-Bresson’s travel and street photography using a single camera and a normal lens.

(The images captured by Janardhan have a surreal, painting-like quality to them as colours merge to create tonal gradations that added to the beauty of the images.)

Janardhan’s commercial body of work is largely industrial and advertising photography. He’s also extensively documented dance and theatre in Hyderabad, since the early 80s. “I studied Maths, Physics and Chemistry in graduation and used to be good in these subjects, particularly the chapter on light. Even today, I tell aspiring photographers to get a basic knowledge of physics. Photography is putting your knowledge of physics, mathematics and chemistry to use within a split second to capture the right image,” he says. Janardhan went on to enroll in an engineering course, only to realise his passion was photography.

('Photography is putting your knowledge of physics, mathematics and chemistry to use within a split second to capture the right image.'')

Financial constraints came in the way of pursuing a full-fledged course in photography, then available only in JJ College of Arts, Mumbai. He remembers his first assignment, to cover a high-profile wedding. “I had just returned after purchasing a video camera and a VCR from Chennai and had to shoot within a couple of hours,” he smiles. One of his first few assignments fetched him Rs. 500, a princely sum in the early 80s.

Unlike now when photography courses are aplenty offline and online, he recalls having to rely on foreign publications available at India Book House for a few dollars or International Return Coupons (IRC). “If we booked a magazine, it would reach us six weeks later.”

(The advantage of shooting from a high vantage point made him notice the play of light on the water)

As he moved into industrial and product photography, he learnt by observing masters like the late Wilas Bhende. “I had attended a workshop held to celebrate 25 years of his Sinar equipment. He was the first to procure the camera in India and was instrumental in having the only Sinar diploma course in the country. Inspired by him, I wanted to buy a Sinar,” he says. This called for investment to the tune of Rs. 25-26 lakh. Janardhan found himself working and saving for over 10 years before he could realise his dream. “I was the first to get a Sinar digital in Andhra Pradesh,” he beams.

Looking back, Janardhan is glad his parents let him pursue his passion and feels youngsters should be allowed to have a ‘plan B’ instead of solely focusing on academics.

Artistry behind the lens

(Janardhan was at the Kumbh Mela, documenting the ‘Ganga aarti’ and soaking in the uplifting energy of the event.)

Janardhan is widely known in the performing arts and theatre circle in the city, especially among dancers like Ananda Shankar, Rajeswari Sainath, Mangala Bhatt and Sobha Naidu. He closely worked with them, capturing their every move for years at events held in Ravindra Bharati and those hosted by South Indian Cultural Association (SICA), Kalasagaram and others. “I photographed theatre and dance for passion, and it was an expensive thing to do in the 80s. From buying a film to printing the images, I would incur an expenditure of Rs. 400 to 1000 for a day,” he shares. His images of dance, besides capturing expressions and postures, are about waiting for the right moment to capture the dancer’s body language and moments that others would miss.

(Report by Sangeetha Devi Dundoo for The Hindu)