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Abstract redefined

Achuthan Kudallur weaves a tapestry of coloured shapes and spaces

RAINBOW MAN Achuthan and his works PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

Achuthan Kudallur is an artist making an effective difference to the art scene with his sheer abstract paintings and making his presence felt since his foray into the art scene about four decades back.

Self taught, well read, intelligent, brimming with that subtle humour and smouldering intensity Achutan with his saint like appearance signifies his work - volatile yet tranquil with undefined borders. A National award winner of the Lalit Kala Akademy, he was appointed as one of the commissioners for the 10th International Triennale in India. He has had over 20 solo exhibitions in India and abroad. His work has been extensively shown across the country, in London, Dubai, Katmandu, Hong Kong, France and Japan. On invitation Achuthan has participated in more than twenty-five artists' camps in India, and a few in Russia, Istanbul, Dhaka and Mauritius. Some of the collections where his works are housed in Meuller and Plate Gallery, Germany, Glenberra Collection Japan, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Air India, Mumbai, Bank of America, Madras, Wipro, Bombay, Taj Group, Chennai, Museum of Kerala History and its Makers, Kerala, , apart from a large number private and public collections in India and oversees. An exhibition of his recent paintings at Shrishti Art Gallery vibrated with presence of the die-hard abstract visionary and his tendency to reinvent his thoughts in the perimeter of the `abstract' and provide an expected yet unknown novelty to the audience.

Well known for his oils for a long time, Kudallur offered as good - probably much more evocative watercolours during the early 2000s.

Weaving a tapestry of coloured blotches, shapes and spaces - sometimes building up on the surface and at times enjoying the virgin white of the paper, Achuthan's canvases are musical epigrams where accelerating notes are captured and played with accurate precision .

The pattern of work is different - the abstracts are redefined according to the medium, textures emerge, the application significant of cautioned abandon, urging a temptation to recognise images and the whites from underneath.

Achuthan allocates status not only to his new directory of conviction with discretion and ferocity but also a wide-ranging palate. While reds, browns and black dominate the ambiance; this velocity is in a few works soothened by fresh hues of blues and a canvas of speckled pastoral greens. The dynamism and the tranquillity, the darks and the lights, the opaque and the transparent, the long bold patches and the little blotches - Achuthan's are a visual rhetoric `accentuating' the contrast. The exhibition is on view at Shrishti Art Gallery till March 10 between 11a.m. and 7 p.m.

B. Padma Reddy

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