gurunathan.g

Medium: Mixed Medium Dimension: 22 x 30 in Year: 2010

Gurunathan’s paintings are often derived from palm sized sketches of landscapes and foliage that he does on his travels. When the scene of creation shifts from one place to another (his studio), the medium, size and form of the work alter while the spontaneous feel of the work remains unchanged. Apart from these continuations and bifurcations that the work travels through at the formal level when the scene of creation shifts, there also arise some modifications in modes of perception within the canvas- the adjectives and pronouns that, at times, accompany the sketches which identify/describe the foliage give way to unlearning, where despite the physically proximate visions of foliage, one is not able to ask precisely which plant species one is seeing; thereby placing the viewer in a world where all perceptions have to be new. Similarly Gurunathan’s paintings also make the viewer re-understand the painted surface since what appears like a thickly loaded surface of pigment in the painting is actually a thinly applied layer of colour. To talk of colour with regard to his work is also not simple since he paints with black and white, tones predominantly associated with the medium of drawing, to produce large paintings and creates smaller works on paper using powder colour pigment that he mixes with a binder. This aspect of complexity hidden within the ‘simple’, brings to mind the concept of play in nature. Just as play is characterized simultaneously by lack of guile as well as cleverness, in one of his works, Gurunathan

allows even the line which is used to block the canvas and mark the space, a prominence that is refreshingly honest. However the confidence and vibrant energy with which he plays with lines and applies layers of colours over each other cleverly masks the fact that these works are not instantaneously executed with little patience for erasure, but actually are like mighty trees whose origin began as tiny seedlings fighting for survival in the layered soil of the forest (the forests are a place that Gurunathan loves to visit).

Compared to his previous works where the forms were more precisely defined with thick lines, in his recent works the lines define the form as well as its colour, thereby being both like an image as well as its mirror reflection; a comparison that is also echoed in some of his works with forms arranged in mirroring symmetry. Symmetry is not only a device that correlates with nature and its asymmetrically symmetrical nature but also suits the artist’s own nature too; Gurunathan considers harmony and unity as important qualities of an art work. Or could this mirroring also be the result of his working process where he revisits a scene many times, with each visit being through the hazy mirror of memory? His thought process, the chaos of his studio that he says is crucial to his work, the choice of subject, his visual language are all slightly varying reflections of one another, that of being the subject and an end. -Vaishnavi Ramanathan

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2010

Top:Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2010

Bottom:Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2010

Untitle Mixed Medium on Canvas 48x39 in 2010

Untitle Mixed Medium on Canvas 48x39 in 2010

Untitle Mixed Medium on Canvas 72x48 in 2010

Next:Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2011 Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2010

Untitle Mixed Medium on Canvas 72x48 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Canvas 48x48 in 2011 Untitle Mixed Medium on Canvas 48x39 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 12x9 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 12x9 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 12x9 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 12x9 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 12x9 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 12x9 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 12x9 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 12x9 in 2011 Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 22x30 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 16x8 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 16x8 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 4x3 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 4x3 in 2011

Left:Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 42x36 in 2011

Top:Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 4x3 in 2011

Bottom:Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 4x3 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 4x3 in 2011

Untitle Mixed Medium on Paper 4x3 in 2011

Name : G. GURUNATHANEducational : M.F.A Painting, 2009Mobile Number : +91 98841 07544E-Mail ID : gurunathan.artist@gmail.com

Selected Exhibitions

2011Art Chennai, group exhibition at Aartheryya Art Gallery, ChennaiKinetics-Sign, group exhibition at Cholamandal Artist Village, ChennaiSummer Abstract, group exhibition at The Noble Sage, LondonSalad, two man exhibition at The Promenade Hotel, Pondicherry

2010Present in the past, group exhibition at Forum Art Gallery, Chennai.

2009Sign, group exhibition at Alliance Francis Gallery, Pondicherry Group exhibition by Concern India Foundation at Bangalore Kinetics- Tracing New Horizons, group exhibition at Chitra Kala, Parisheth

2008Madras Canvas III and II at Fourm Art Gallery, Chennai Between the lines, group exhibition at Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai Group exhibition at Prakrit Arts Gallery, Chennai.

Delight of the shades at Aurovile, Pondicherry The South group exhibition organized by Apparao Gallery, Delhi Expression Stic Elucidation group show at Apparao Gallery, Chennai

2007Kinetics group exhibition at Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai Working Indian Artist from Lalit Kala Academy at Graphics Atllior Cumberland, USA Solo Exhibition• Artist of the month, Cholamandal Artist Village, Chennai 2011• Chaparral, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi 2010.• Apparao Galleries, Chennai 2008

Camp Participated • Inter-regionalPainterscampbyLalitKalaAkademiandWeavers Educational Foundation, Mangalore, Septermber 2010.• ArtistCampatMuktiFoundationOrganizedby Prakrit Arts Pondicherry 2008.• VariouschildrensWorkshoparoundTamilNadusince2005–09.

Awards • StateAwardbyStateL.KA,2003Chennai.• BestStudentAwardbyG.C.F.A,Chennai2009.

ContactGurunathan.G, 1338-Sreejis Apt, Door No-11, 20th Main Road, Anna Nagar West, Chennai-600 040

Mobile: +91 98841 07544 ; E-mail- gurunathan.artist@gmail.com