Familiar theme, novel forms

IS THERE any Indian artist, who at one time or other, has not indulged in painting or sculpting `Ganesha'? The concept lands itself to such innovative forms that some artists never tire of using the imagery.

``Sri Ganesha'', an exhibition of paintings, sculptures and metal reliefs at the Vinyasa Art Gallery on the occasion of Ganesh Chathurthi, offers a range of creations by artists from all over the country.

The Lord is considered benign and ever helpful in getting things done without a hindrance, that one tends to treat him like an indulgent friend. He sits on the ground in a relaxed manner and reads the newspaper in R. Usha Devi's oil painting, while he plays the tavil and the nagaswaram in two paintings by Mohan Kalyani.

The small format paintings of Dakshinamoorthi attract attention, as does the tall, lean Ganesha on a plank of wood by Muralidharan. While the bronze sculpture by Senathipathi is decent, the same cannot be said of the terracotta pieces by T. R. P. Mookiah. On the other hand, in the water colour by Village Mookiah, the Lord's presence is vague while the crow in front takes prominence. A traditional theme of Lord Ganesha being worshipped by people is presented in a somewhat contemporary style by Augustine. The mica sheet paintings by Suryakumar are much too colourful and confuse the imagery.

Particularly interesting are the works by some of the artists from Mumbai such as Goutham Mukherjee, Netra Sathe, Alpana Lele, Pradip Karnik and Dinoo Hazra.

Paintings by Sudipto Tewary and Alok Chakraborty from West Bengal also attract attention. The most charming pieces are the craft like items obtained from Mumbai.

Small figurines of Ganesha are fixed in the bamboo trays known in Tamil as `Sulagu' and `Muram'. The `Ashtavinayaka' concept has a slightly larger sculpture of Ganesha at the centre surrounded by eight smaller forms of the Lord. A `Dancing Ganesha' is placed on an irregular piece of plank. There are many such interesting variations, which could become ideal gift items.

LAKSHMI VENKATRAMAN

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