[G@ttoGiallo]
Why and how were these works chosen?
I discovered Viswanadhan recently. The artist, however, has been around for quite some time, stopping in Paris in the
1960s, where he was noticed and supported by a major Paris gallery. In 2012, at the Fernand Léger Gallery (Ivry-sur-
Seine), I saw his paintings for the first time, which left me both confused and astonished, a sign that his work was taking
me along paths to places I had never before explored. Among the works shown, one in particular caught my attention,
and it is from this work (dated 2001) that the selection being exhibited here today was constituted. This selection covers
a pivotal period in the development of Viswanadhan’s art.
The background of the paintings of that period is white, while the pigments used come from India. Green, red, yellow
ochre and blue mixed with casein are applied in wide, flat transparent or opaque strokes, organising the painting
geometrically. Through layer after layer of brush strokes, a subtle play of colours slowly appears. Visually, the
sensations are shimmering, almost earthy. Varying transparencies and opacities are irregularly woven into the painting,
inventing endlessly new tonalities and giving off a rare brightness.
Viswanadhan stands over the stretched canvas when he works, a position that he had already adopted as a child,
when he was tracing the signs of tantric rituals in the sand. Large brush strokes infuse the space of his painting with a
rhythm, which the artist regularly brings to a halt at the centre of his work, or almost. This simple act suffices to introduce
an irregular element into the geometric design created by the alternating application of colours. Slowly and regularly, the
strokes follow the same movement, straight and repetitive, while the body moves and revolves around the canvas
placed on the floor or on a table in the artist’s studio.
The selection of works by Velu Viswanadhan proposed here aims to show the point where the achievements of Indian
culture come together with those of contemporary art; a point of precious equilibrium between uniqueness and
contemporaneousness.
Pascaline Mulliez
[Translation Beatrix de Koster, April 2013]
___
And on Friday, April 26th
at 8:30 pm...
As part of the exhibition, a concert will be
- Florentino Calvo, mandolin
- Sandrine Chatron, harp
- Jean-Marc Zvellenreuther, guitar
The trio will play some pieces of Félix
anniversary, in the presence of the
composer himself.
