Inspired By Petrichor, The Upcoming Exhibition At MKF Museum Of Art, Bengaluru, Is A Riot Of Colours And Expression
Despite its moderately insipid identify, nothing revitalises the soul as petrichor — the odor of rain on dry, parched land. For artist Ganesh Doddamani, the invigorating scent jolted him out of the ‘artist’s block’ he was caught in and impressed him to start out portray once more.
“I started working in 2000 after my Masters from Shantiniketan in West Bengal. I was captivated with the Buddha and most of my works were busts of the Buddha in pretty, pastel shades that exuded a sense of calm,” says Ganesh, who was working in Bengaluru on the time.
“After a while, I realised that my work did not reflect the teachings and thoughts of Buddha. I was unable to express my thoughts or feelings and in an attempt to break that impasse, I experimented with colours and medium, working on landscapes, abstracts and other art forms, to no avail,”
“In 2015, I returned to my hometown of Belgaum, within the hopes that the picturesque panorama of the ghats would reinvigorate my creativity. And then it rained, the primary rain that summer season. The odor hit me and it was nearly like an out-of-body expertise. I used to be full of indescribable pleasure and I needed to color the odor of happiness. I started portray quickly after, following a break of just about two to a few years.
“Until then I hadn’t worked with such a riotous palette of colours. Family and friends who didn’t even know what had inspired me or what I was trying to convey said my canvases uplifted their spirits,” says the 45-year-old artist.
Ganesh says the 25 canvases that comprise ‘Sense of the Land’ had been created over three-and-a-half years and have since been exhibited throughout India, in addition to in Nepal, Switzerland and different European nations.
Despite doing very properly as a Commerce pupil, Ganesh all the time knew he needed to do one thing within the artwork line. He believes his discussions with artists KB Kulkarni and Chandrakant Kusnoor moulded his early days as an artist.
Then, there was Shambhu Das, his trainer at Shantiniketan whom he credit for serving to him discover his kind. Ironically, it was failing in Calligraphy that led him to fulfill Shambhu. And in contrast to most academics, Shambhu requested for ‘Gurudakshina’ even earlier than courses started.
“I thought he would ask for a small sum as fees. Instead, he asked me to present him with 500 watercolour canvases! I could only create three a day and soon realised I would never meet that number in my gap year. When I told him I would be unable to do so, Shambhu told me he valued quantity over quality.”
Like most individuals who’ve been taught high quality trumps amount, Ganesh couldn’t wrap his head round his trainer’s emphasis on numbers. “He told me, ‘Unless you keep creating and continually experimenting, you will never learn.’ That was a lesson I’ve never forgotten and it has been my guiding force all along.”
With his work starting from ₹ 10,000 to ₹ 1,60,000, Ganesh says 50% of the proceeds from the sale of those canvases will go to artists who’ve been adversely affected as a result of pandemic.
‘A Sense of the Land’. a group of acrylics and oils by Ganesh Doddamani might be on show at MKF Museum of Art, Lavelle Road, Bengaluru from Aug 13 to 29. For particulars contact 9019276294.
