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K M Adimoolam
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"Child or middle-aged man, my heart and mind are filled with nature, at every moment. It is a wonderful experience; this love and awe that provoke my ever creative and anxious mind to penetrate the reality that lies beyond our vista. Thus, my canvases mirror my mind's journey through Nature - not as realistic landscapes or seascapes but planes of colors creating an esoteric aura on a transcendental level. For two decades, my concept has been...
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"Child or middle-aged man, my heart and mind are filled with nature, at every moment. It is a wonderful experience; this love and awe that provoke my ever creative and anxious mind to penetrate the reality that lies beyond our vista. Thus, my canvases mirror my mind's journey through Nature - not as realistic landscapes or seascapes but planes of colors creating an esoteric aura on a transcendental level. For two decades, my concept has been evolving unilaterally with mere technical innovation and a different exploitation of hues.”
Color is what fascinates K. M. Adimoolam. It is this and not any specific imagery that Adimoolam uses to interpret nature, making his paintings abstract renditions of the natural world purely through color.
Born in 1938 in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, K. M. Adimoolam’s natural aptitude for drawing at an early age made him move to Chennai in 1959. There, under the influence of the sculptor Dhanapal, he enrolled in the School of Arts and Crafts. After completing his Diploma in Advanced Painting in 1966, Adimoolam started a series of black and white portraits of Mahatma Gandhi. Sketching from photographs of the great man, he finished nearly a hundred drawings that moved over 60 years of the Mahatma’s life.
At about this time, he came in contact with Tamil writers and began an association with them, illustrating their works after which he took up oil painting. Color came into his life, causing him to move from the figurative to the abstract. Adimoolam now works with equal ease at drawing and painting, combining the two to produce a large body of work.
"My drawings and paintings help to express my feelings. My drawings are not the exact copy of what I have seen through my eyes; but I feel they are the impressions of beauty, which are constantly imprinted on my inner vision and emerge as black and white forms on paper," he expresses. Reminiscent of an age long gone, his sketches are a constant search for greater freedom of expression and serve as an outlet for his creative energy. They capture the essence of the subject in all its glory, and yet leave something to the imagination with shadowy faces.
"My canvases are neither representative of nature nor the perception of my mind. My works are not bound with words; they are purely concerned with vision. A vision that tries to reveal some untold truths from ‘Nature’,” he adds. It is a truth told through hues that undulate across the canvas. In his own words: “ I interpret it through colors, without focusing on any aspect. No preconceived imagery has impeded my spontaneous interplay of colors. They create the life, verve, void and texture, and inherent sense of energy. My innate optimism permeates through the colors as the joie de vivre."
Adimoolam’s canvases partake of his inner energy and vision, emerging as an extension of his mind that seems to put down color without referring to the artist himself. “At least for half the stage of a painting, I act as a tool and only after that I overcome this challenge,” explains Adimoolam.
That is the main reason for the spontaneous and untrammelled quality of Adimoolam’s canvases that seem to carry the viewer into a journey through space. As he questions: “What else can art depict except nature and people, the two inseparable elements?”
K. M. Adimoolam passed away in January 2008.
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Born
1938
Karpur, Trichy, Tamil Nadu
Died
2008
Education
1960-66 Government College of Arts & Craft, Chennai
Exhibitions
Selected Posthumous Exhibitions
2012 'One Eye Sees, the Other...
Selected Posthumous Exhibitions
2012 'One Eye Sees, the Other Feels', The Viewing Room, Mumbai2010 'Who Has Seen Gandhi?', presented by Tangerine Art Space at Raj Bhavan; KynKyny Art Gallery and Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore2010 'K M Adimoolam: A Retrospective', Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai2009 'Indian Harvest', presented by Crimson- The Art Resouce, Bangalore at SG Private Banking, Singapore 2008 ''From Beyond The Vindhyas'', Ganges Art, Kolkata
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2007 ‘Lines form an Artistic Life’, The Drawings of Adimoolam, Book release and Exhibition, The Mint, New Delhi 2007 ‘Abstract’, Art Motif, New Delhi 2006 Solo Show, Saffronart, New York as well as Online Show at Saffronart.com 2005 Berkeley Square Gallery, London 2003 Crimson Art Resource with Windsor Sheraton, Bangalore 2000 Art Heritage, New Delhi 1999 Crimson Art Gallery, Bangalore 1997 Retrospective Exhibition of Drawings (1962-1996) organized by Values Art Foundation, Chennai and jointly sponsored by Crimson Art Resource and Max Muller Bhavan, Bangalore 1994 British Council, Chennai 1993 Crimson Art Gallery, Bangalore 1987 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1981 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1969 Sarala Art Centre, Chennai 1969 100 Drawings on Gandhiji to Mark his Birth Centenary 1966 First Solo Show, Chennai
Group Exhibitions 2007 ‘Six Abstract Artists ‘ Show’, Akar Prakar Gallery, Kolkata 2006 India Fine Arts, Mumbai 2006 Art Motif, New Delhi 2006 Organized by Vinyasa Gallery, Chennai at New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai 2004 ‘Indian Artists’ Show’, Prakriti Gallery, Hong Kong 2004 ‘Still Life’, Art Motif, New Delhi 2004 Art Motif Gallery, New Delhi 2003 ‘Five Chennai Artists ‘ Show’, Vinyasa Gallery, Chennai 2003 Indian and Korean artists at Korea 2002 ‘Three Artists’ , Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi 2002 ''Landscapes'', Art-Motif, New Delhi 2001 Art-Motif, New Delhi 1999 ‘Six Indian Artists’, London by Maya Art Gallery 1999 ‘Small Formats’, group show of 6 artists at Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad, by Art in Crafts, Bangalore 1997 ''Major Trends'', group show to commemorate 50 years of India''s Independence by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi 1997 ''Major Trends'', group show to commemorate 50 years of India''s Independence, jointly sponsored by Crimson Art Resource and Max Muller Bhavan, Bangalore 1996 Exhibition to raise funds for Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1996 ''Madras-An Emotion'', organized by Values Art Foundation, Chennai 1995 ''Gandhiji in Postcard'', Traveling Exhibition at Various Cities in India 1995 Group show of Indian Artists organized by Sarala''s Art Centre at Tokyo, Japan 1995 ‘Three Indian Artists Show’, Maya Gallery, Hong Kong 1995 ''Save the Children'', Charity Exhibition at Mumbai 1993 ''Wounds'', Centre of International Modern Art (ClMA), Kolkata 1992 Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore 1992 Southern Region Art Exhibition by Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata 1991 ''9 Indian Artists'' by Walk-in-Gallery, Singapore 1991 ''Rimbaud-91 '', organized by Alliance France De Chennai, in Chennai and France 1990 Sakshi Gallery, Chennai 1990 Dhoomimal Art Centre, New Delhi 1990 & 91 ''Touch Stone'' shows by Sakshi Gallery Chennai and Bangalore 1989 ''Nature and Environment'', exhibition organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi 1988 Sakshi Gallery, Chennai 1983, 84 ''Sketch Book Series'' (drawings) Sarala Art Centre Chennai and Kritika Art Gallery, Bangalore 1983 Art Heritage Show, New Delhi 1973 Seven South Indian Painters, Australia 1972 Twenty Five Years of Indian Art, New Delhi
Joint Exhibition 2003 Forum Art Gallery, Chennai 2001 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1995 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1993 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1991 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
Participations 1987 19th Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil 1986 Sixth Triennale India, New Delhi 1986-89 Kala Yatra Show, Bangalore 1963-85 National Exhibition of Art, New Delhi
Honours and Awards
1979 National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1978 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai 1973 Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata 1965, 66 Hyderabad Art Society''s Award, Hyderabad 1965, 66 Mumbai Art Society''s Award, Mumbai 1965 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai 1964 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai 1963 Chitra Kala Parishad, Bangalore 1963 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai
1979 National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1978 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai 1973 Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata 1965, 66 Hyderabad Art Society''s Award, Hyderabad 1965, 66 Mumbai Art Society''s Award, Mumbai 1965 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai 1964 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai 1963 Chitra Kala Parishad, Bangalore 1963 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai
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