K. G. Subramanyan

Good overall condition.
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Born in Kerala, Kalapathi Ganapathi Subramanyan studied at the Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati University. He subsequently received a Research Fellowship at the Slade School of Art in London. An art historian, scholar, prolific writer, teacher, sculptor and distinguished painter, Subramanyan works with a range of media including glass painting and weaving. His art is a product of his in-depth knowledge of a variety of ethnographic artistic traditions, coupled with popular Indian myths and folklore as well as western Modernist tradition.

Influenced by cloth patas and the Kalighat school, his methods of intricate ornamentation derive from classical Indian miniature painting. This vibrant fusion of cultural stimuli results in fabled, fantastic imagery that is both modern and indigenous. Subramanyan draws upon his multifaceted expertise to create unique combinations that challenge perceived notions of contemporary art, combining his skills and the subject matter to create universally appealing art. His works often feature human figures interacting with mythological adorned creatures, symbolising unification and a sense of community, blurring conventional divisions. This painting is a play on words as the artist is the namesake of the beloved deity.

Mask, Icon, Mount, Mascot, executed in 2000, is an exemplary work by Subramanyan. ‘Most of the time the compulsive synergy of his line and colour have a life that is indispensable to the subject being portrayed. The seemingly loose and certainly lively stroke that can even be lush, engages one further as the artist brings together his ‘waywarldly’ real and imaginary images in a kind of graphic, at times subversive projection, caught mid-shot, then fractured in it’s dispersions.’ (Kamala Kapoor, K. G. Subramanyan: Recent Works, Mumbai, 2003, unpaginated).