The order of chaos

Rather than the grandeur associated with mythology, artist KG Subramanyan's paintings look at gaucherie and imperfection

Neither age nor two hip surgeries have deterred K G Subramanyan from actively practising art. A year ago, the modern artist created War of the Relics, an elaborate mural in black-and-white, while recovering from an operation. Seated on a stool with a belt around his waist, he completed the piece in eight days. Over the last twelve months, the 90-year-old has painted 24 untitled works that are presently on display at Colaba's Project 88 gallery in an exhibition titled Mythologies.

From a distance, the colourful paintings hanging in a bare room look unassuming. But each frame conveys heavy doses of mystique. The figurative pieces are done predominantly in black, yellow and orange. The characters, some recognisable and others newly imagined, seem to question glorified notions about man, beast and God. In one painting, a bull sways comically as it attempts to carry a deity and two tree-covered mountains at the same time. Rather than the grandeur usually associated with mythology, the images bearing a confusion of arms, legs and heads hint at gaucherie and imperfection. Another painting shows an empty room with framed photographs, the subjects of which look either bored or stare curiously at one another.

"Mythology is the lens through which he looks at the world around him in these paintings. The way he uses them suggested that they are both stories outside of us and desire-laden images within us," says R Siva Kumar, art historian and critic, about the series. A creature central to most paintings is the fish, squashed under a beast's foot in one painting and spewing out a Goddess' lover in another. Despite the chaos conveyed in the works, there is no agitation in Subramanyan's confident strokes. "He brings this out with great playfulness and an ease which he has gained through years of observation and image making," says Siva Kumar.

Subramanyan has often referred to himself as a "groper" without a calculated approach to art. Born in Kerala in the 1920s, Subramanyan's perspectives on art and life are said to have been shaped by an early interaction with the nationalist movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. Among his strengths is the expert art of rendering irony, subversion and the surreal. "Occasionally, human callousness and cruelty that disturb the flow of life disturb him, and he responds to them as well, usually with elucidating irony rather than emotional violence," notes Siva Kumar.

Subramanyan is known to have blurred the boundary between artist and artisan, working with versatile mediums such as painting, weaving, murals, sculptures and toys. For this exhibition, the medium is paper handmade by one of his students at Santiniketan. Its thick, stone-coloured texture is amply visible from under the watery slashes of paint, becoming an important participant in telling the story. Some works in the exhibit show traces of rare misplaced brush strokes, covered up with grey paint.

The gallery, a subsidiary of Kolkata-based Project 88, brought the exhibition to mark the 25th year of its parent gallery. It is largely empty when we walk in on a Friday afternoon, but the response to these modern works has been strong over the last two weeks, says spokesperson Zakia Basrai. "Our gallery usually has contemporary installations. This exhibit gives it a different look."

Subramanyan's art seems to be a favourite with galleries. Last year, he had three exhibitions in the city including War of the Relics, which portrayed the victor and the vanquished coming face-to-face. One can also see some of his canvases at the Delhi Art Gallery in Kala Ghoda, in an ongoing exhibition on Bengal art. Subramanyan created a lot of them at Santiniketan in Bengal, where he studied from 1944 to 1948 and taught for several years thereafter.

It is remarkable that Subramanyan's artwork has remained creative and ambitious over the years. "He has laid his foundations well and pursued them seriously and self-reflexively without jumping on to bandwagons," says Siva Kumar. "And things beyond his own determination have been kind to him."

Mythologies can be viewed till March 6 at Project 88 in Colaba, Mumbai from 11 am to 7 pm.