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Lot 21

 

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"Shibu Natesan's works are engagements with the transient and the ephemeral which he freezes in time. The figures and the embedded narratives are preserved and suspended in a way as to demand scrutiny and contemplation. The language of realism which the artist has adopted induces a tension in the works giving rise to a unique disquiet" (R. Siva Kumar, Exile & Longing: Emerging Art Practices from Kerala, Lakeeren exhibition catalogue, 2000, not... "Shibu Natesan's works are engagements with the transient and the ephemeral which he freezes in time. The figures and the embedded narratives are preserved and suspended in a way as to demand scrutiny and contemplation. The language of realism which the artist has adopted induces a tension in the works giving rise to a unique disquiet" (R. Siva Kumar, Exile & Longing: Emerging Art Practices from Kerala, Lakeeren exhibition catalogue, 2000, not paginated).

In the present lot, a large and quiet roadside scene populated by a bicycle and a lone lady laughing out loud, Natesan captures and dramatizes an ordinary moment that would probably go unnoticed. Heightening the drama of the scene with his soft palette and shadowy foliage, the artist leaves it to his viewers to construe the image and the actions that preceded and will follow this paused moment. As he explains, "A central part of my painting practice involves the quest for a resonant image that refuses to be read directly and which obliges the viewer to make an interpretation" (Each One Teach One, Sakshi Gallery exhibition catalogue, 2007, not paginated).

Relating the stylistic devices Natesan uses with his artistic agenda, Ranjit Hoskote notes, "Elegant as Shibu's hyperrealism is, it is edged with brusqueness. Seemingly easy to access, his paintings are complex visual surfaces: they invite viewers in, only to rebuff them...Shibu's treatment is only deceptively related to photorealism; in fact, it is not an extension of photography, but a crisp departure from it. He distorts the detail, flattens the depth of field, and employs the harshness of light and extent of shadow to pare down a figure or extend an object into indefinable nuance. This is why, although Shibu's paintings originate in magazine photographs, they gain a riddle-like, inexplicable quietness more often associated with the paintings of such masters of the enigmatic situation as Piero della Francesca, Vermeer and Seurat" (Alchemy, Art Musings exhibition catalogue, 2005, not paginated).

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