Vithika
Rama Suresh
The Rural Aesthete by Aparna Sharma
For Rama Suresh, 32, who has
lived all his life in the city, the Indian village is a respite from the
mechanical and fast urban pace he has been bred in. The contrast between
the city and the village has become a source of inspiration for this
Chennai-based artist's canvases. In his recent exhibition at the Triveni
Kala Sangam, New Delhi, his third solo-show in the capital, we encounter
vivid and contrasting hues of rustic orange, brown and white. This riot
of color materializes before us rural sites dotted with figures viewed
in their ordinariness.
Suresh says he is "captivated by rural men, women and children in
everyday attire". This body of work has stemmed from his travels through
Rajasthan. Suresh first captured some images on his camera and then
worked with those to develop his canvases.
The most striking aspect of his work is his expression of rural peoples.
Only occasionally do we see a figure frontally. Some figures are seen
purely from behind, while the positions of others are meticulously
sculpted at oblique angles. All persons are engrossed in some routine
activity, like weaving, walking up stairs after a dip in the river,
preparing for a journey or gazing unintended at a vastness before them.
Along with attire, there are some measured symbols in Suresh's
compositions that indicate a sedentary pace. Herds of cattle, the
handloom, metal and earthenware - these are not merely props that
supplement the landscape being depicted. These everyday objects are
invested with a sense of the wayside that acquires a poetic dimension,
motivating a feeling of being lost in time. We are propelled towards an
altered experience of pace and rhythm. This treatment is very crucial
because the figures are not embellished with any imagination or desire
that an outsider such as Suresh maybe tempted to ascribe to them, given
his foreignness to and fascination with village life.
That said, it cannot be denied that Suresh's canvases are in some
measure boldly exotic. At first instance, this exoticism arises from
contrasting earthen hues. Exaggerated sunset shades of red and orange
form a background that mingles sharply with the browns of skin and earth
and the whites of attire. His works are not simply naturalist or realist
depictions that faithfully replicate the subject and evade the presence
of the artist.
The strokes on Suresh's canvases further his modernist claim. Suresh
attended the Government College of Arts and Crafts in Chennai. He says,
"While studying there, I became deeply inspired by Van Gogh and KCS
Pannicker. From both I derive the ability to develop texture on the
canvas. Van Gogh is a master of texture, which he achieves through color
and brushstrokes." Suresh's canvases were developed with a paint knife
and no brush or palette knife has been used at all. Consequently, on
closer examination we are able to see the impressions of paint through
which fabric and embellishments such as floral jewels gain materiality
and an arresting sense of movement.
While the minimalism in design and color achieve in revisiting the rural
landscape on aesthetic terms, at the level of content Suresh's
compositions are more complex. His rural figure appears untouched by any
force of urbanization or modernization, say locomotion, electricity or
communication. This is intriguing. Rural India had lost its purity even
during the Raj period, when the British laid railway lines connecting
resource-rich hinterlands to ports and centers of trade and commerce.
Modern art across the world has engaged with the subject of urbanity.
From Camille Pissaro's Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist canvases in
the late 19th century onto Russian and German avant grade cinema of the
1920s-30s, there's a panorama that delves into the spectacular
transition from the rural-feudal to the modern/urban society. Indian art
too has raised this transition, particularly since Independence.
Satyajit Ray's celebrated Apu Trilogy remains the most poignant document
that heralds and cuts right into this movement. Suresh's canvases are
wanting on this account. One is goaded to question whether this rural
spectacle of color in Suresh is no more than an upwardly mobile Indian
youth's idealization of the countryside that stems from a partial and
ill-informed viewpoint.
But Suresh's canvases do not slip into a pure romanticisation. The
element that accounts for this is the intricacy with which the skin and
expressions of each rural subject have been developed. This intricacy
does not contribute to defining individual characters or their features.
Rather, what is achieved is an innocuousness and blurring of facial
identification. This catapults the characters from being individuals
towards being archetypes. This is a very useful gesture, for we begin to
sense in him, not an urge to capture the subject, but rather engage with
him/her at a level that pertains to visual impression and perception.
There surfaces an honesty in pursuit and Suresh's complete fascination
with the countryside can now be understood as more endearing than
aggressively commodifying his subjects.
More importantly, his figures are not staring at us, as if in
confrontation. They are mostly gazing elsewhere, sometimes in gestures
pregnant with idleness. Suresh's audience is largely urban, as he
exhibits in cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Delhi.
The presentation of the rural figures in such a manner that they are in
no way exhibiting themselves before us serves to remind the viewer of
the distance between him/her positioned in the urban space and the rural
subject. The rural figures are not wanting, lacking or aggressive.
Instead they are accorded a necessary dignity and respect towards their
position in the landscape around them.
Suresh runs a painting workshop cum studio in Chennai. He works with
different media, including murals, photography and sculpture. Influences
from each of these media cross-fertilize in his work. If photography
contributes to his understanding of color and texture, it is sculpture
that seems to enable his choreography of subjects within the canvas.
While the visual appeal of the work is promising in its own right, it is
the arguments and questions from within the work that are engaging for
the viewer and will definitely aid in refining Suresh's future work.
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Along with attire, there are some measured symbols in Suresh's
compositions that indicate a sedentary pace. Herds of cattle, the
handloom, metal and earthenware - these are not merely props that
supplement the landscape being depicted. These everyday objects are
invested with a sense of the wayside that acquires a poetic dimension,
motivating a feeling of being lost in time. We are propelled towards an
altered experience of pace and rhythm. This treatment is very crucial
because the figures are not embellished with any imagination or desire
that an outsider such as Suresh maybe tempted to ascribe to them, given
his foreignness to and fascination with village life.