Artists Directory >Viswanathan
Viswanathan's body of work is an individual journey, an exploration. From early beginnings in figurative work, he soon began experimentation with abstraction and geometric forms. As early as the late 1960s, Viswanadhan, inspired by geometrical ritualistic-magical diagrams of Kerala, was already exploring the visual language inherent in them. This theme has been pursued by him over the years with gradual evolution of form and colour. In the 1970s he started on a series of films on the elements: Sand, Water, Fire and Air. These have received wide acclaim. Now he has embarked on perhaps the most elusive of them all - Ether.
Biographical Elements:
Viswanadhan believes that "drawing the spirit from the matter" has been the basis of his work on paper, canvas and metal plate. This allows us to understand his continuing research and sensual interest in material. Such experimentation reveals the potential of his work's support. The entire body is involved in working on a drawing or a painting as it moves back and forth through space to the paper or the canvas in order to become as completely familiar as possible with the surface being worked on.
A series of paintings on paper done between 1968 and 1977 used small formats because of the limited space in which he was then working. The technique used was one developed by artist and had a captivating effect. The outline was drawn metal style with thick stamping ink. Oil paint was applied with a brush and the work washed with essence of turpentine. The transparent and thin paint revealed the geometric forms.
Viswanadhan used a number of techniques in those ear' years in Paris, indicating an interest in discovering innovating styles. Watercolors and oils, for example, were mixed and contrasted in a unique manner. The fragile transparency of one medium blends into the relatively opaque quality of the other The resulting alchemy creates subtle shadings of light and shadow. A few paintings on paper have a margin running around the sheet like a frame, suggesting a separation between inner and outer space of the work. In some works from 1970s, gold and silver watercolors create shimmering icons
Vishwanadhan did his first "sewn" paintings in 1974 1983 they reappeared in a more developed style. He used highly personal and somewhat strange technique to recompose the different pieces into one. Using strong paper made by hand these works combine a technique used in handcrafts with a sophisticated sense of organization. This forthright, perhaps impertinent, method allowed the artist to create a single, coherent composition from autonomous and different parts. The of such a technique in painting undoubtedly satisfies a compel ling urge for the immediate reconstitution of a fleeting intuition, unless it simply corresponds to a desire to unite or expand limited surfaces within a field reduced by visual images. The thread used in sewing expresses an intention to reassemble different parts of the work, as if one were reconstructing scattered pages of a novel. Neither a puzzle nor an inert object but rather an articulated body within the rediscovered Unity a painting.
The most recent drawings (1995-1997) - large, horizontal formats and smaller square drawings using India ink applied with a bamboo style - reveal freedom and mastery of expression.
Highly evolved, they are done with ease. Their dynamic internal rhythm is created by oblique lines and the barest geometrical forms unite these drawings. Totally concentrated Viswanadhan continues work on these drawings from one day to the next until he completes a series of such works. Such continuity allows the artist to express all imaginable variations he comes to an end. With a light and rapid, firm or fleeting true, the vibration of the irregularly drawn line breathes ration onto the white paper.
Style
A fiery man with the gentleness of a child, his early works are a sensitivity to this. Viswanathan is now working on pure abstracts. His small format water colours on handmade paper are a treat.
1970 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg, Denmark
Galerie De France, Paris, France
1971 Maison De La Culture, Amiens, France
1972 Art Institute, Cochin, India
1973 Galeria Matuzia, San Remo, Italy
1974 Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi, India
1975 Galerie Yves Brun, Paris, France
Galerie Surya, Mannheim, Germany
1976 Galerie Saporiti-Italia, Strasbourg, France
1977 Galerie Shandar, Paris, France
1978 Galerie Kloster 7', Cuxhaven, Germany
Stig Carlsson, Hogonas, Sweden
1980 Galerie Together, Stockholm, Sweden
Galerie FO, Aarhus, Denmark
1981 Galerie Gruppe Grun, Bremen, Germany
Galerie Estela Shapiro, Mexico City, Mexico
Centro de Bellas Artes, Maracaibo, Venezuela
1982 Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
1985 Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1990 ABF Galeriet, Huddinge, Sweden
Lilla Galeriet, Stockholm, Sweden
1991 The Gallery, Madras, India
Gallery Espace, New Delhi, India
1992 Philippe Briet Gallery, New York, USA
1992, 1975, 1972 Gallery Chemould, Bombay, India
1995 Medienzentrum, Bremen, Germany
2000,1996, 1993, 1989, 1982 Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France
1998 Gallery Vadhera, New Delhi, India
1999 National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Lalit Kala Akademi , Madras, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
2000 Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta
2000 Palazio Santa Cruz, Valladolid, Spain
Selected Public Collections
Air France, Decorative panel in first class cabin Boeing 747
Bharat Kala Bhavan, Bhopal, India
Birla Art Academy, Calcutta, India
Centro de Bellas Artes, Maracaibo, Venezuela
Chateau-Musee de Cagnes-sur-mer, France
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Hyderabad, India
Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
Hotel du Departement, Val d'Oise, France
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi
Mobilier National, Manufacturers des Gobelins, Paris
Musee d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, France
Mysore State Museum, Bangalore, India
National Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India
Pfalz Galerie, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Punjab State University, Chandigarh, India
State Bank of India, Madras, India
State Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden
State Lalit Kala Akademi, Madras, India
Selected Group Exhibitions
1965 Edinburgh Festival, UK
1967 Biennale de Paris, France
1968 "Contemporary Indian Art", Travelling exhibition in Europe
1971 Festival International de Peinture, Cagnes-sur-mer, France
1972 Bienniale de Menton, France
1973 5e Festival International de Peinture, exposition des laureats, Cagnes-sur-mer, France
1975 New Delhi Triennial, India
1980 "Contemporary Art Show", Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan
1981 "Asian Art Show", Bangladesh
International Biennial of Engraving, Moderna Galeria, Ljublijana
1983,1980, 1968(award), 1967, "National Exhibition of Art", Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
1983 "Tantra", Aspects of Contemporary Indian Art, Institut fur Auslandsbeziehungen, Stuttgart, Germany
Premio Internationale, Biella, Italy
1984 "The 15th International art Exhibition", Tokyo, Japan
1987 'Masques d'Artistes', Malmaison, Cannes, France
L'inde en Suisse, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneve, Switzerland
1988 "Art for CRY", Travelling exhibition in India
Art Olympiade, Seoul, South Korea
1992 Terre d'Avenir, Le Bourget, France
International Award for Contemporary Art of Monte Carlo
"An Exhibition for Satyajit Ray", Philippe Briet Gallery, New York, USA
Silver Jubilee Exhibition, Birla Academi of Arts and Culture, Calcutta, India
"Confluence", Franco-Indian Association, Calcutta, India
1993 "Wounds", National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India
"Crayon, fusain et plume", Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, Paris
"100 Years of Indian Contemporary Art", NGMA, New Delhi, India
1996 "Works on Paper", Gallery Espace, New Delhi India
"Emotion Madras", Value Art Gallery, Madras, India
'Six Artists, Galerie Darthea Speyer', Gallery Athens, Athens, Greece
1997 Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France
"50 Years of Independence", National Lallit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
1998 "Geometry and Symbols" in Indian Contemporary Art, NGMA, New Delhi, India
2000 Cholamandal artists' Village, Madras, "Exile and Longing", Emerging Art Practices from Kerala, Lakeeren, Mumbai , Abstract aArt in India, Gallery Art Motif, Habitat Center, New Delhi.
Address: 7, Rue Ricaut, 75013, Paris and Cholamandal Artists Village, Injambakkam,
Chennai - 600 041
