About
"A line is a line, it is universal". A.P. Santhanaraj to his teacher K.C.S. Panikker.
The eloquence of the canvas is such that it can be like a passage of time - one that leaves perhaps a trace, a wrinkle, a mosaic of tethered images or just the elements of unravelled riddles. Santhanaraj's oeuvre done over nearly a decade looks at the animated threshold of juncture as well as the fugitive forms of the human figure in which the quantum of matter is not just expression but the imperative creation of harmony against the backdrop of nature. The entire section of works culled from the collection of Kumar Gallery does away with the burden of memory and looks at the fullness of artistic intent - in which there is a deepened dialogue between the individual psyche as well as the collective consciousness of the artist.
As you look at the works and scrutinise, perhaps peer closer and understand the impulse it is also a good time to know that Santhanaraj is one of the formative pedagogues of the Madras Art School where he first studied under the doyen K.C.S. Panikker as a student, then worked in later years as a teacher, andthen finally became Principal after which he retired in 1990. Interestingly his stint at the Kerala College of Fine Arts between 1976-78 is a point in reference simply because there seems to be the influence of lush green paradisal verdancy in most of the works. What is also compelling is the artist's linear quality of lithe stimulation - and when you know that his inspiration has been Rembrandt it does not come as a surprise. "Rembrandt was an angel of light", said Santhanaraj in an interview years ago. "No one has surpassed the purity of light that Rembrandt could achieve though he lived in the 16th century". However, Santhanaraj's admiration grew to an obsession that decided to disengage itself from the shadow of the Dutch giant. So Santhanaraj began with space - space converted lines and lines converged towards forms. Colour gave way to colour - textures convulsed and coalesced to create a nonobjective canvas that would be either Symphony in Yellow, Symphony in Redand so on. In a surge of adventure he once pasted a piece of thread on the canvas and painted over it in his attempt to understand texture - this work was accepted in the First Triennale of India.
It seems as if Santhanaraj has always ruminated over the genesis and the recovery of space in his works - you see that amply in the manner in which he treats colour and creates an atmosphere out of it. In the most poignantly poised work in this collection - Bride- the image of the bride is communicated through colour, form and light. There seems to be an inborn temperament in the artist to communicate - there is also an inherent urge to rejuvenate the image in question by transcending itself. It is as if light has changed the perspective of the bride's attire - light has also distilled the portrait and instilled in the work an energy that is , indeed rare.
The Girl with the Pigeon, reflects not just the ability of drawing to be an intellectual exercise, it also brings you face to face with the truth that 'drawing is an illusion that ultimately vanishes into atmosphere where you have nothing but colours'. It is the positioning of the composition that entices you - there is a deliberate detailing of contour and the magnificent realisation of illusion that makes this work a masterpiece. The female form seems like an object of mystery and when he imbues it with a heightened abstraction he gives us a stylistic realism that is manifested only rarely. That is why when heonce spoke of the female form he said: "The female form is always a mystery to form. I have been unable to solve this mystery. I am in the midst of it, I am part of it. I am playing my own game as part of that mystery. Beyond this I have no words".
While there is a distinct divide between the figurative forms, the abstracts and the line drawings in this collection, what runs as a common thread through all is not merely Santhanaraj's felicity for the power of the line but his ability to render totally illusionary colour. "Colour to me is life because colour is light", he says. "I feel colour is something I should own, something I should live with. When I have succeeded in capturing light for converting light into colour that would be my total fulfillment". And yet if you look at the drawings you see the sculptonic intensity of the line as well as the abstracted fyêling in of the dimensions of the subject's materiality. However, the line is not merely isolated to give credence to a form - instead you see a filling in of the mass like figures - an elemental stroking of lines. These portraits are expressionist - but the artist laces it with an abstract tension. "My art", said Santhanaraj, "is abstract, very abstract. But there is no distortion in it. Abstraction, according to me, is giving importance to the most important aspect of the object and eliminating the unimportant though it might exist. When you are dealing with total abstraction, you cannot be without the total atmosphere, which is the realism. But this realism is not bound by form in fact I have conveyed the essentials of a form in my work - say for instance the theoretical message - in such a manner that it would fit into the total atmosphere which if converted would become colour and have the anatomy to fit within that range of colour". Maybe that is why over the years Santhanaraj has developed a repertoire that reflects the nuances of colour and light. The search.- the quest has been to find a co-ordinated manifestation of the atmosphere and everything has soared into the firmament of illusion.
However, in that matrix of illusionary combinations there is a quietude, a resonance that signifies his use of colour and its role in the complete atmosphere of the frame. While colour merges into innumerable textures there are also a series of works that are just born out of the symphony of creation. They came to be christened Symphony in Green, Symphony in Green and Blue and so on. Look closer and it seems as if they belong to a mosaic of tumbted chaos - they also fit in perfectly into notions of smallness, bigness, vastness or just monument~lity. The division of time and space - that is what exalts and it seems absolutely imperative for this cerebral artist. Obviously Santhanaraj has a deeper intuition about the geometricty of space -he also has an unconscious recall of the elements of Hindu architecture which he studied and observed in younger years. All that gets transformed onto his palette like riddles unveiled - it also reflects his preference for a sculptonic intensity of sorts. But what emerges everywhere is the harmony of the.spatial construct, how a little embellishment can actually enhance the harmonic rendition instead of intruding upon it. That is why there are subtle vibrations felt -there are also angularities of metaphysical features.
In a world that is governed by time and space, Santhanaraj's final gesture is to engage in the supreme union of matter with the spirit. That is why you can sense a lyrical cadence in the figurative works - the sense of learnedness emanates from each work whether it be a drawing or a canvas. But there is a certain epitomizing of peaceful co-existence in which colour and space combine to give us a radiation of power. There is a deep perception here of the role of colour and the power of aesthetics. For Santhanaraj aesthetics is the source of the hungry spirit. Years ago when he was Panikker's student, he would tell him "a line is a line, it is universal". But Panikker who believed in the triumph of the Indian culture would reply that there was still something special which characterized an Indian line. That is why Santhanaraj often said: "The Europeans depend totally on reality, they believe in optical definition. But we believe in the definition of inner feelings and hence we must definitely break away from reality. We are metaphysical in our approach and not limited by optical reality. Now many great European artists realise that India is the cradle of great things. Now I understand, after years of experience, that Panikker was right, and there is something Indian even in a line".
For Santhanaraj just as in music, so also in painting, it is the atmosphere which should be the most important obsession. That is why he has always said: "Form and colour can be borrowed, understood and assimilated but atmosphere is a marvellous secret that can never be borrowed, it is also to be understood only from nature - and no other master can teach it so well. The secret of the success of the European masters lay in their ability to understand the importance of form and colour". The drama of Santhanaraj"s works are like singular moments in timechosen from the harmonious elements of nature's being - they are like lines that enact an enigmatic scene in endless space. Instinctive, intuitive and elusively haunting-the mosaic of connotations draw us into the vortex of pure art where deeper insights are the only goal.
- Uma Nair, The Asian Age
Related Artists
