He is eclectic, so is his art. He could play string
instruments and if need be tap a bit on the metal plates to bring out rhythm
and music. He could also draw and paint, and when he doesn’t do either he is a
trigger happy photographer. Wanderlust has struck him badly and he seems to
have trusted his feet than his bottom. And he does use it and its result is
evident in his solo exhibition at the Lalitha Kala Academy Gallery, Kalady. I
have forgotten to mention his name; here is he is, Shyam Aramban, a BFA in
Painting from the Kalady University and MFA from the illustrious Banaras Hindu
University.
Shyam Aramban’s eclecticism shows in most of his paintings
for he flitters between styles and formats as if he is natural in this kind of
oscillation. But the strain that he tries to bring in through the lines and
brush strokes more or less remains the same as his forte lies in depicting in
everyday life activities of human beings, at times in a stylized realistic
fashion and at other times in absolutely symbolic manner. Exaggeration of human
figures and the stylistic variants that he chooses to delve in show the
journeys that he has taken. Even if it is not said in his biodata, a sharp eye
could discern, from the themes and styles, the lands that he has passed through
and passed by, inspired and influenced at each juncture of confrontation.
Surprise is the element that he maintains in his artistic demeanour;
he could be excited by the moments that he feels and witnesses. When he is in
Varanasi he breaths in all what is in offering in terms of visuals. Kashi is
the popular name that Varanasi or Banaras has among the pilgrims. And Shyam
underlines his approach to the place as a pilgrim, someone who seeks
deliverance but doesn’t think that he would live there for long though contrary
to the belief may happen, and soaks the scenes and reproduces them in multiple
tiers on the single pictorial surface using stylized lines. Of late his works
have taken more linear fashion like a graphic illustrator and through these
lines his captures the life and times of the places that he visits. Varanasi
and Shantiniketan, two places that he is enamoured by find expression in that
fashion in his works. One could discern the places through the dominant
presence of iconic images; like Santal Family sculpture or Rabindranath Tagore,
or Shiv ling and ghats.
When in Rome behave like a Roman is the motto that Shyam
follows, it seems. He paints what he sees when he is in Lucknow, the capital of
Uttar Pradesh. With its die hard classical etiquette and Nawabi culture,
Lucknow stands tall despite the political perversity rules the state. Shyam
does not think much about the political matters but making the landscape
replete with Muslim culture and architecture, he seems to say something
allegorically; faith in humanity and cohabiting with different religious
faiths. He revels in his graphic verve and it is starkly different from the
early works where Shyam seems to be strongly influenced initially by the works
of Tyeb Mehta and a little by Manjit Bawa. At some point Shyam is greatly moved
by the lines of Jogen Chowdhury. But these influences do not stop him from
being fast and furious in making his art with some kind of freshness. As I
mentioned before, his eclecticism is in bathing in different streams at once unapologetically.
However, a crucial question remains; how long an artist
could flitter between different styles? Even if the wandering is for finding a
path before undertaking a long journey, or it is a reveling in an unchartered
landscape, for an artist settling in some path or style is important despite
the variations in mediums and themes. One could sing the same raga in many
voices and also sing many ragas in one voice. Identity is connected to the
latter; finding one’s voice is important for a singer; finding one’s own
stylistic approach to the creation of visuals is important for the artist. That
is the virtual footprint of an artist; it is a genetic continuity that remains
invisible but palpable from one work to another. Shyam Aramban may be thinking
about it sooner than later.
One good thing about Shyam Aramban’s art is that he is not burdened by the typical imageries usually seen dominating the young Malayali
artists. Also he is free from the photorealistic bragging of painterly skills.
Not that Shyam has skills but he uses it for a different purpose. Spontaneity
and impatience are something that rule Shyam’s works for the time being. The anxieties
of his age, his sexual fantasies and contemplations peep out even if he does
not want to make them so obvious, in some of his works. The latest works are iconic
forms generated from his life in Banaras. But he has cleverly turned them into
icons of a lost faith in which the natural elements were worshipped in
anthropomorphic forms. It is immaterial whether he settles down in his life or
not but it is imperative for an artist to settle in his expressions; even
Basquiat, despite his absolutely anarchic life, had a visual language of his
own, or least that could tell the world that it was Basquiat’s.
-JohnyML
No comments:
Post a Comment