Artists Directory >Dakshinamoorthy

What is world without people? Stone, marble or granite - line, curve and chisel mark - express emotion and character. I do not seek any role model for my inspiration. My inspiration comes from the people - as groups or as individuals. I get ideas by watching them closely - their moods, their postures, their gestures, etc. As for my visual vocabulary, it comes from our Ayyanar figures and African sculptures. I firmly believe that my sculpture, if not now, will some day attract people and they will then have no difficulty in relating to it to enrich their own lives. I believe in turning my aesthetic sensibility into intense creativity, at the same time, keeping the forms I evoke as simple, direct, open and immediate as I  possibly can without compromising their quality and integrity. The apparent roughness of my granite sculptures is inherent in the material itself. But their impact is strong, because of their healthy roots."

Chronology

Born: 1943
1960 - 1966 : Studied at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai
1978 - Received training in Advanced Print-making at Croydon College of Design and Technology as British Council Scholar.

Exhibitions

1962-80 - National Exhibitions of Art, New Delhi
1966, '69, '71 - One-man shows in Chennai, Bangalore and again in Chennai
1973 - Seven Indian Artist's show in Australia
1970 - Group show in New Delhi
1973 - One-man show in Bangalore
1975 - Group show in New Delhi
1976 - Group show, Mumbai
1977 - One-man show in Bangalore
1978 - Group Show at Morley Gallery, London
1978 - One-man show at Croydon, UK
1979 - Group show at Buenos Aires, Argentina
1981 - Group show, Mumbai
1982 - 9th International Triennale of Coloured Graphic Prints, Switzerland
1983 - Group show, Mumbai
1985 - One-man show, Chennai
1986 - VI Triennale-India, New Delhi
1987 - 7th International Small Sculpture Exhibition, Budapest, Hungary
1989 - Group show, Mumbai
1991 - VII Triennale-India, New Delhi
1998 - Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and Chennai. 

Honours and Awards

1963 - Madras State Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai
1965 - Madras State Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai
1968 - Chitra Kala Parishath, Bangalore
1972 - Mysore Dassera Festival
1976 - Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu, Chennai
1981 - Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu, Chennai
1985 - National award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.
1989 - '91 - Senior fellowship awarded by the Department of Culture, Government of India, New Delhi.

Artist Camps

1989 - Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu camp.
1990 - Sculptors' camp, Vallabh Vidya Nagar, Gujarat
1991 - Sculptors' Camp, Dehradun.
1992 - All India Painter's Camp, Kanpur.

Important Collections

Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu
Contemporary Art Gallery
Government Museum, Chennai
Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
Regional Centre, Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai
Chandigarh Museum, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta
South Zone Cultural Centre, Thanjavur
Hyderabad Museum
Art Heritage, New Delhi