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Akkitham Narayanan
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Akkitham Narayanan’s paintings are geometric configurations of abstract forms. With a predisposition towards the purity of geometry, he creates a fusion of Indian tantrik art and the European geometric art.
According to the artist, geometry comes from earth, a form of universal system, where everything appears simple and straight and therefore, rigid. But if we were to look at it in subjective manner, the perspective would change....
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Akkitham Narayanan’s paintings are geometric configurations of abstract forms. With a predisposition towards the purity of geometry, he creates a fusion of Indian tantrik art and the European geometric art.
According to the artist, geometry comes from earth, a form of universal system, where everything appears simple and straight and therefore, rigid. But if we were to look at it in subjective manner, the perspective would change. Akkitham Narayanan’s creations are abstract in character, reflecting a deeper understanding of the nature and its varied colors and moods. The forms and colors that come repeatedly in his works remind the viewer of the chanting of a hymn, reverberating with the essence of life spirit.
The artist oversees the picture plane with a classification of space through lines, angles, squares, rectangles, and so on. There is a clever use of color within each space, which may be amorphous and smudged in some areas, or sharp in others. The blending of triangles and rectangles has a lyrical, emotive touch. Within these forms one can see thin lines suggestive of the forms of cloud and elements like fire and water. Also seen is the combination of archaic lines reminding one of letters and snakes. The artist has been inspired and influenced by traditional Kerala architecture. His colors come from the mural paintings that had inspired him during his childhood days. The color black that he uses on the canvases too reminds one of ancient Indian wall paintings and murals.
He creates the feeling of light by applying a thin coat of oil paint on the canvas and then erasing it. Using this technique to blend the colors, he creates an illusion of using watercolors and is able to retain the texture of the canvas. The color settles in the weave and lends the painting its texture. The technique thus lends a three-dimensional feel to the work. To break the monotony, he uses a knife to carve or draw lines and write out from the scriptures while the paint is still wet.
Born in Kerala, Akkhitam Narayanan studied art at the Madras College of Art and Craft, where under the tutelage of the noted painter K.C.S.Panicker his art philosophy was truly shaped. Observing his adoption of many a religious symbolism into the scheme of his pictorial language, he realized the limitation and possibilities of the intended 'indigenous art lingua'. Recognizing the fact that the palpable religious symbolism could degenerate into another convention, which could help the proliferation of 'ritualism' in art, the artist consciously chose a path where the religious symbolism could demystify itself and become a part of the high-modern abstract language that defied regional and ritualistic boundaries.
Developing an indigenous art became a pivotal issue for Akkitham Narayanan while he was staying in Delhi during mid 60s. In late 60s, he went to Paris on a scholarship to study art there and settled down there about three-and-a-half decades ago. His decision to settle down in Paris had made a lot of difference in the artist’s perceptions. His canvases became more and more refined. Irrespective of the medium, he experimented with colors and formal rhythms. Collapsing the figures into minimal forms, he naturally arrived at the field of geometric patterns, forms and shapes. Triangles, squares and circles, like individual instruments in a musical ensemble, started falling in place. Suggestions of the elemental aspects like fire, water, air, earth and ether started playing hide and seek in constructive designs of geometrical forms. Creative experiments that spread across almost four decades have refined his visual linguistics. Despite the conscious blocking of visual narratives from within the frame, a closer look at Akkitham Narayanan's works reveals that they are geometrical constructions, rather than 'formless' abstractions.
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Born
1939
Kerala
Education
1967-70 Studied monumental art under Mr. Jean Bertholle and engraving under Mr. Lucien Couteau
1961 Diploma in Painting, Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2011 'Through the Kaleidoscope', Art...
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2011 'Through the Kaleidoscope', Art Alive, New Delhi
2006 KL Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
2005 Galerie "Mille Lieux Du Mond" Sevoz, Chamonix, Paris
2005 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai
2003 Municipal Library, St. Pierre Des Corps,
2002 Galerie M: & R: Kolbiens, Garbsen, Germany
2001 Espace Lino Ventura, Garges - Les – Gonesse,
2000 4th Festival of Art and Music, Conservatoire - Andre Navarra, Charenton - Le - Pont
1995 Chateau de Talcy, France
1994 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai
1994 Kabutoya Gallery, Tokyo
1994 Mohanjeet Grewal Gallery, Paris
1991 The Townhall of Royat, Triennale de Chamaliéres, Royat, France
1990 Collegiale Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier, Orleans, France
1990 Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata
1988,92 La Marge Gallery, Blois, France
1988,91,94,98,2005 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai
1978,81,84,88,91 Seibu Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
1978,85 Retrospective of The Haut Pave Gallery, CNAC, Paris
1976,85 Le Haut Pavé Gallery, Paris.
1976 Legard Gallery, Paris
1974, 86 Mukai Gallery, Tokyo
1974 Hennemann Gallery, Bonn, Germany
1973, 74, 76, 80, 83, 88 Steintor Verlag Gallery, Germany
1972 The Gallery, Paris
1971 Falazik Gallery, Neuenkirchen, Germany
1971 Ostentor Gallery, Dortmund, germany
1970 Transposition Gallery, Paris
1966 Triveni Gallery, New Delhi
1965 Max Muller Bhavan, Goethe Institute, Chennai
Selected Group Exhibitions
2010 'Besides Paris', Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata
2009 'Think Small', Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2008 'Structure and Mystic Space', Tamarind Art, New York in collaboration with Time and Space Gallery, Bangalore
2005 ‘Double Enders’, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Cochin
2003 Souvenir D'en France, New Delhi
2003 Festivale De I'inde, Contemporary Art, a l'arc, Le Creusot, Galleria White – Elephant, Paris
2001 Inde, Carrefour Des Arts F & H: Art Forum, Paris
1998 San Tache, Mumbai
1997 Salon de Mai, Paris
1996 Indian Contemporary Art, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1996 South Indian Artists, Values Art Foundation, Chennai
1993 Contemporary Indian Art, Sogo Museum, Yokohama
1995 Exhibition of Mr. Rey's Private Collection, Rigaud Museum, Perpignan
1993 Souvenir d'en France, New Delhi
1992 Contemporary Asian Art, Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
1991 Salon of Graphics, Atelier-Musée du Papier, Angoulême, France
1991 M. & R. Kolbien, Garbsen, Germany
1990 Sarala's Art Centre, Chennai
1978 Les Huns, CNAC, Paris and Girodet Museum, Montargis, France
1984 Four Indian Painters, Le Beffroi Gallery, Tours, France
1977 Salon Grands et Jeunes, Paris
1981,94 Salon of Jeune Peinture, Paris
1973 Novembre à Vitry, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
1972,73,74,76 Salon Rèalitiès Nouvelles, Paris and Luxemburg, France
1970 Le Prix Septentrion Exhb., Marcq-en-Baroeul, France
Joint Exhibitions
2009 'Samskara', with Sohan Qadri at Art Konsult, New Delhi
Participations
1996 Harmony Show, Mumbai
1992 Roopankar International Print Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal
1992 Centenary Exhibition, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata
1990 International Methodology Show, Seoul, Japan
1988, 91, 97 Miniature Graphics Triennale, Chamalières, France
1983 Graphics Biennale, Varna, Bulgaria
1977 3rd Graphics Biennale, Vienna, Austria
1975 International Triennale of Indian Art in India, New Delhi
1974 International Biennale, Menton, France
1973 International Print Exhibition Manila
1972, 84 All India Print Exhibition New Delhi
1970, 72 2nd and 4th International Festival of Painting, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France
1961, 77 Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
Honours and Awards
1972 Award, 4th International Festival of Painting, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France.
1972 Award, All India Print Exhibition, New Delhi
1967-70 Received French Government Scholarship
1965 Award, Association of Young Painters and Sculptors, Chennai
1962-64 Received Indian Govt. Scholarship. 1963, 65, 66 Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai
1972 Award, 4th International Festival of Painting, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France.
1972 Award, All India Print Exhibition, New Delhi
1967-70 Received French Government Scholarship
1965 Award, Association of Young Painters and Sculptors, Chennai
1962-64 Received Indian Govt. Scholarship. 1963, 65, 66 Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai
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