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Exhibition of line drawings opened

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, MARCH 13. An exhibition of line drawings titled `Two decades between the lines' by artist S.G. Vasudev opened today at Amethyst at Gopalapuram. Mr. Vasudev, a founder of Cholamandalam Artists' Village and the recipient of several awards, may be better known as a painter. But his line drawings present a disarmingly intimate encounter with the artist and his preoccupations. "Of all forms, drawing is closest to me because it is just me, the pen and paper," says Mr. Vasudev.

The collection on display spans several thematic phases, starting with the tree of life, `Vriksha,' in the early eighties, which played a formative role in his evolution as an artist. "The tree of life is also the tree of death and regeneration," he says. The waxing and waning of life, relationships and nature are common threads throughout his works. In later phases, the lines explored `Maithuna' the act of love, humanscapes, earthscapes and most recently, `the theatre of life.'

From a fascination with love, nature and creation, the artist's focus shifted to people, their heads and faces, until environmental themes captured his imagination. His most recent subject of `people as actors' draws all the threads together.

"It is difficult to know a person straight; we all wear masks," he says. "I used to watch people watching television and that inspired me."

Activism, theatre and poetry, especially Kannada poetry, are critical influences. Letters from the Kannada alphabet inscribe many of his fluid open drawings. Mr. Vasudev attributes this to his closeness to Kannada literature and the seamless way in which letters blend with the rest of the drawing. Mr. Vasudev was recently honoured by the Karnataka Government with the Venkatappa award for his contribution to art.

The exhibition by Gallery Samakhya, will be on view till March 17 between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.

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