The spirit of solitude

Yusuf Arakkal's new series of paintings is an absorbing one

FROM LIFE The series is also partly the artist's personal experience

Well-known artist Yusuf Arakkal's new series of paintings titled In Solitude is an absorbing chronicle of loneliness. The string of human portraits — surrounded by silent shapes, floating shades and fleeting forms — which have marked many of his earlier works are evident in the 30-odd paintings of this series as well.

"I have personally experienced intense loneliness," says Yusuf. "I have also seen many lonely faces in different places. People who seem lost in their own thoughts and world... I've tried to capture this feeling in my works."

In his paintings, the artist has featured a range of protagonists from different parts of the world — New York, Moscow, Jerusalem, Macau, and so on. To share with the viewer a universal feeling of loneliness and solitude, he has portrayed not just the people whom he has known or encountered within real life, but also those he has seen only in magazines and newspapers. A few of the paintings also show a model captured in isolation.

Limited canvas

"Decades ago, when I started painting, my world was small," reminisces Yusuf. "A few square kilometres of my city (Bangalore) was all I had for my canvas. In course of time, my worldview changed. My travels abroad have made me realise that men are everywhere — be it in Europe, America or Arabia. They may look differently but they all share the same emotions, feelings and moods."

The preview of In Solitude begins on October 29 at Galerie Sara Arakkal, 156, 4th Main Road, BEML Layout, ITPL Road, Bangalore 560066 (Phone: 51162622) and continues till November 12. The exhibition would subsequently travel to New Delhi and Mumbai.

ATHREYA

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