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Reinventing
tradition
The art of
Ramesh Gorjala:
Working with
a sense of reverence towards divinity
and traditional forms of depiction, like
the miniatures and Kalamkari style, the
Andhra-based Ramesh Gorjala applies his
own stroke of creativity to reinvent
these forms and adds to it new life and
vigour.
Born in
Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh, in 1979,
he studied at Jawaharlal Nehru
Technological University (JTNU), in
Hyderabad, where he received his
Bachelor's degree in painting. Before
that Gorjala, who hails from a family of
weavers, studied Kalamkari, but he
wanted to move away from merely
decorative work to creating his own
signature style and studying at JNTU was
the right step in that direction.
Now his
signature style is built around one
central protagonist and into this body,
the artist builds an intricate web of
narratives and figures. With a palette
dominated by reds, blues, yellows and
golds,
Gorjala
weaves an intricate tapestry that
emerges and recedes from the painted
surface, upon multiple viewings of a
single work.
Central
characters like Ganesha, Hanuman, Shiva
and Vishnu are what the viewer first
sees. However on closer inspection one
becomes aware of a number of smaller
figures worked into the surface.
One can
trace this approach and style back to
some of the 15thand 17th century
miniature paintings from Rajasthan. It
takes time and patience to view the
entire, bejewelled surface of Gorjala's
detailed canvas.
Gorjala also
uses contemporary design motifs like the
black-and-white conquered-board in his
compositions to give a modern touch to
his work. He also paints with the
contemporary medium of acrylic on canvas
even though his style and technique
evokes the early temperas of the
miniatures which he has worked in
previously. The scale employed by the
artist is the complete opposite of what
one sees the miniatures and, if
anything, it is reminiscent of the
murals of Ajanta and Ellora in its
scale. He also works on handmade paper
evoking a different kind of dexterity
and delicacy in these works using pen
and ink instead of reed pen. His
canvases of course possess broader,
bolder lines.
Gorjala has
that unique blend of tradition and
modernity that many a connoisseur looks
for in Indian art that consciously
weaved from the idea of Ancient India.
Georgina
Maddox
(Maddox
blurs the lines of documentation, theory
and praxis by operating as a
critic/curator.
She is
currently working with The Indian
Express as Senior Assistant Editor.)
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