Recent Works: K G Subramanyan

K G Subramanyam

7 April to 25 April 2009.

To celebrate K G Subramanyan’s 85th birthday (5th February 2009) The Seagull Foundation for the Arts along with galleries in different places like Santiniketan, Ahmedabad, Baroda, and Hyderabad is traveling this large exhibition of  paintings by the artist.

The exhibition that opened in Santiniketan at Kala Bhavana on 5th February is now being presented in Hyderabad along with Kalakriti Art Gallery. This part of the exhibition will showcase Fifty new works by the artist. These include a set of 21 reverse paintings in the artist ‘glass painting tradition and 29 gouache on paper works of various sizes and themes.

After Hyderabad the exhibition will move to Calcutta where the artist will also exhibit 45 new terracotta works.

In the artist’s own words about his process of painting:

“There is no single process. Which is to say that I do not have a one-point agenda. And in their   nature, my works are not end-oriented like those of some confirmed professionals. I am a groper. I find what I see around exciting, but at various levels. Sometimes, the sheer look of each unit. Then its configuration. Then the narratives it generates depending upon what I read into them. Covering a whole range of characteristics—liveliness, elegance, oddness, comedy, tragedy, metamorphic overlay, even allegory. My groping leads me to discover these. And I use various representational alternatives to give them body. I do not swear by a method nor stick to a process, as I do not want to lose this mobility, and with that my desire and power, to discover the world afresh.

I look at it from various viewpoints. And represent it through various media, each and all of which have the ability to unlock new perceptions.

I am not always sure how my work moves forward or what ground it covers. I do not want to be over-specific. I want it to flourish (so-to-say) in a ‘cloud of unknowing’. For a centipede like me to start counting my legs is suicidal. It will freeze me into inaction.”