Notes from the City

George K

The months of April and May bring to my mind a not so recent Tamil film song which sang about the barrenness and lack of green in these months. However, this April and May were certainly not bare as Chennai hosted several art events in the city including a performance art event.

Apparao Galleries simultaneously hosted three shows by George.K. His sculpture show titled the “Human Animal” played upon the theme of the human-animal with small fibre glass sculptures of partly human and partly animal creatures juxtaposed with metal parts. These sculptures marked a significant change from the life-size sculptures of transgenders that he is known for. Also interesting were his photographs “Freedom Calls” that captured the Central Jail in Chennai. The photographs had a certain painterly quality to them and through the layers of peeling away paint and decay that they captured, spoke about the multi-layered history of a building that is in its last days, since the building will soon be demolished. The exhibition brought into focus, a building that has played an important role in history by serving as a point of departure for prisoners going to the Andaman jails and also as a place that has housed a number of eminent political leaders and historical personalities. Apparao Galleries also displayed his paintings which dealt with the concept of Sringara.

George K

After a long time, the open air theatre at Cholamandal hosted a performance again. Shailesh B.O's collaborative project with British artist Merina Sisley was inspired by Butoh dance, a Japanese dance form that uses white body makeup and slow movements. While Merina Sisley with her white body makeup, that later became like a canvas streaked with colours as she rolled over the colourful rangoli on the stage, performed there was also a display of B.O.Shailesh's paper sculptures and installations.

Vinnyasa Premier art gallery is back with its trademark annual Affordable Art show that goes with the motto “Art for All”. With schools and colleges closing down for summer, there have been a number of art camps held in the city, especially at DakshinaChitra which conducted photography workshops, Thangka painting, Batik classes etc. DakshinaChitra also hosted an exhibition of paintings by participants of the National Art Week that was held in February 2010. The show consisted of abstract paintings by Kashinath Salve, Akhilesh and Vipta Kapadia's and figurative works by C.Douglas, Gurusiddapa, Rajeshwar Rao and Veera Santhanam.

 

Vaishnavi Ramanathan