Colouring culture in easy strokes

By Francis P Barclay

The artistic and esoteric V Rajagopal radiates his resilient reverence to the traditional aspects of the devout Indian culture through a plethora of art works.
From abstract and contemporary art portraying the rustic pillars of temples and animals in fortuitous postures to the ones with the touch of cubism, oil, acrylics and realistic pastels and the tiny clay faces, the 80-odd art
works on display at the Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery speak volumes of the lost and divine tradition.
Rajagopal, who had conducted many one-man shows and participated in the All-India Artists Kala Mela held at New Delhi, is the seventh man to exhibit paintings under the series `Meet Coimbatore Artists'.
This artiste's most numb and brusque painting titled `Ganesha', which visitors would hardly accept it as a painting at the outset for its simplicity, well would explain Rajagopal. He blots out the message in the sumptuous spread of colours.
The lucid painting has a couple of blunt broad strokes of deep brown with its edges off figuring the Ganesha idol. To be critical, he never missed out to add the tiny stone figures that usually accompany the Ganesha idol under
a pepal tree, which shows his fervour for religious folkfore. One can maneuver and master the style with ease and he intends to propagate this message to the viewers, especially children.
An art teacher at the government high school in Devarayapuram, Rajagopal took inspirations from his father who owned a printing press. Winner of a national award for art teacher, he learnt it from trial-and-error. He had
participated in the Noyyal river project awareness campaign also and used his knack to serve.
He is more a contemprory artiste and handles the abstract style, albeit he works out on other stlyes like the Tanjore style and realism.
His creased elephants are limned of knife. He uses realistic and contemporary abstract styles in a single painting.
His temples are the old clapped-out ones which have a relic touch. He gives life to the rugged temple art of the olden days and inds the contemporary style serving.
He says, ``Painting is not an arduous job to perform. Simplicity in style is recurrent in my paintings, for I intend to say people that anyone can do it but with knowledge about the basic elements of perspective and colours.''
Complexity is, however, hidden behind the simplicity in his paintings. He comes readily to translate the language of art. In one of his paintings, which has a touch of cubism, he hides the image of a woman. A deer and an ox
are mixed up with the stature of the woman. He says our scriptures visualise the abdomen of a woman like the head of an ox and associate the character of women with that of the animals.
His Nataraja is painted with a circle like the `Vitruvian Male' of Da Vinci, but with an array of hues. When each colour is considered separately, Nataraja is seen gesturing different meanings. He says, the principles of Da
Vinci, the proportions of human body and the way it is portrayed within the circle, is also there in our ancient scriptures.
The exhibition will be on till April 30, from 10 am to 7 pm. For further details contact 0422-2574110.