Babu Maney: A Painter Who Wandered a Lot

(Self-portrait by Babu Maney)

 “Many journeys and meeting many people don’t really help to make art,” says Babu Maney. “You need to sit in one place and make art.” His voice no longer has the agitation and his feet do not itch to set out for another unchartered journey. Rolling stones, they say, do not gather moss, but once they settle down at some place, a major portion of their chunk must have been rubbed off. Some shine and some turn pale and weak. Even in the weakness such stones could reveals the innards of its existence, its veins of pain and a quivering soul. Babu Maney in his early fifties is now like that stone that has settled at Edappady in Kottayam, Kerala, after a long life of a rolling stone.

(Paintings by Babu Maney)

Was it the travel bug or some kind of a search? Babu thinks deeply and he is not able to figure out the answer. Perhaps, it was for both. He wanted to know the lands and also he was in search of something which eventually revealed him the truth of settling down in one place at some point in life and pick up the tools that he once considered dear. After finishing the National Diploma in Painting from the Mavelikara College of Fine Arts in 1990, Babu looked around and saw nothing to support him as an artist. He did not want to become a banner and poster artist. In one of his meetings with a local artist who went by the name ‘Varnam’, Babu chanced upon a book on World Art. Leafing through the book he thought that whatever he had learned in the college were just exercises of minor effect.

(Paintings by Babu Maney)

National Diploma was a kind of educational pattern followed in the Fine Arts learning in which the students were not supposed to give written examinations. That means, those who had a diploma were not supposed to write theory and history papers. Artists, once upon a time, came from artisans communities and many were not good at reading and writing. Diploma helped them to have some qualification. But even after many years into modern education, still many fine arts students preferred diploma over degree because they could escape the tedium of written examinations. Babu Maney got a Diploma and it was enough for him to get an admission in any institution like Santiniketan and MS University, Baroda. (A few diploma holders, with proof said that they too had to write theory and history examinations and pass with 40% marks. I need a bit more evidence to make the difference between a Degree and Diploma). 

(Paintings by Babu Maney)

Babu followed some friends to Delhi and from there to Santiniketan. Failing to get admission there, he reached Baroda in early 1990s and got admission after a couple of attempts. Sooner than later Babu became a ‘figure’ in the faculty, moving around with a promising sculpture student, Gopan Perumbada. Armed with a smile that did not betray any of his emotions, Babu waded through the difficulties of language and money and managed to pass out from the faculty with a Post Diploma in Painting. Lands were calling and he kept moving from one place to another; sometimes as an assistant to a friend and sometimes as a cook to an officer in Kolkata. Upon coming back to Kerala, Babu found himself alone and lost. He couldn’t pursue a lucrative career in the commercial field for he thought his calling as different. Nor could he make anything in the art scene despite his ‘good hand’.

(Portrait of Mother and self-portrait by Babu Maney)

Late Rajan M.Krishnan found Babu’s potential and started helping him by providing him with canvases and colors. Babu bloomed soon; his paintings though stylistically addicted to Rajan’s for some time, took different forms, shapes and hues and the artistic attitude evolved in definite directions. Like an ambitious artist of the time, Babu too attempted to make large scale paintings; dilapidated buildings, old parts of the cities, collapsing architectures and so on became Babu’s favorite subjects. Looking back at those works one could see why the artist was keen on the collapse and decay. He was looking at his own life, collapsed and showing the signs of early decay. Despite his efforts to shake off wanderlust, he found it quite fascinating and his feet were his only carriage that took him to distant lands. He kept on looking for the solution for his art. Epiphany set in when he saw nothing happening to his art in terms of monetary results. He realized that it was imperative to paint and stay in one place. Itinerancy in art is possible only when the artist could find a stable patronage, which was no were to be seen in his case.

(Hampi and Fish by Babu Maney)

The days of boom went by without making many changes in Babu’s life. He was working as a mason in the construction sites. He accompanied his elder brother who is an accomplished mason and got suspended once in a while for his love for bottle became a nuisance in the worksite. “I painted during the days of suspension,” chuckles Babu. During his student days acrylic was not a major medium and today he works more in acrylic for its affordability. Suspension from work turned out blessing in disguise for Babu for he could chuck the habit slowly and steadily while his output grew considerably. He fell in love with himself and started painting self-portraits a la Shibu Natesan. Also he turned his attention to nature and started painting it with a renewed vigor. “I have been traveling and I was not seeing nature, perhaps,” he says, “but once I started painting the immediate nature I recognized the beauty of the surroundings.”

(Paintings by Babu Maney)

Chirico, the Italian painter has been an inspiration for Babu and one could see his works literally making references to the master’s works. He has even painted his mother’s portrait against a famous Chirico works. Once upon a time Babu was obsessed with homes; perhaps, homelessness and incessant wanderings must have triggered such imageries in him. He painted a protagonist carrying homes on his shoulders. Had he been considering homes as a burden or the longing for it was dreaming them down on him? Babu does not say a conclusive answer. Once settled, he is more comfortable with interiors and domestic imageries. Once in a while he makes a small trip to the nearby places and comes back with the mental images of the places and paint.

(Paintings by Babu Maney)

Babu Maney (as in Manet) is not a usual name in Kerala. “It was supposed to be Babu Money,’ he says. He did not know how to make a facebook account and a friend pitched into offer help. While naming him according to the social media requirements, Babu Mony was misspelt as Babu Maney and it got stuck. Money (Mani) is his pet name; an irony, he says as he does not have any money. But it is good to be known as Maney because it gives him the comfort of the great Impressionist, Edward Manet. Babu Maney still goes for his mason work as none has come to pick up his works. “Whatever I have painted in my life are with me,” he says. Unlucky? Not sure, some people strike gold late in life. Babu Maney hopes to make it big as he is a determined painter today. However, he needs help; yes, monetary help to survive.

 

-JohnyML