THE COLOURS OF COLOURLESS SUBALTERN LIFE



SWAPNA MURALI





Remaining active in the contemporary life of Kerala, the artist Gayatri tries to cultivate a subaltern Kerala through his artistic works like a peasant. His works manifest the anxiety of the marginalized people in majority. His paintings before four or five years; enquire the issues deal with the effect of attack from the economically powerful empires, its result of distortion of ethics and the lose of values in the low class people after the seventies particularly in Kerala. The artist holds an approach of straightforwardness and he identifies himself as one of the representatives in this society.

The paintings of the artist in this century engrave the fact that, their works evolve from their life itself. This concept made its presence formerly in art and has been reiterating even in the movies and literature. After the post modern movement, there had formed non responsibilities in the field of art and as its result the representatives of the subaltern artists who reached in the mainstream of it, tried to recapture their own national and ethnic aboriginal method. In fact, they brought a change. Since then the artist has been traveling through the layman’s struggles and poverty, devoid of the glittering luxury and sensual desire of the upper class. In Kerala, the new generation of artists realize the importance of such a search.

The exhibition, conducted by Gayatri at Jehangir art gallery, Mumbai on April 9th to 15th 2007 itself is an attempt to fix the subaltern’s present life in Kerala. Gayatri opens his eyes into the hell – like life conditions of the suppressed, they are unaware of a man’s right, justice, and even equality. The artist identifies his self in the midst of those, leading an obscure life. Life seems to be a holy book in front of him. Philosophical thoughts are not the manna falling from the heaven, but the scriptures of tragic vision of man: lives only for his bread without reaching anywhere in his life which is a big question before. Thus, his paintings do not have the intention to fulfill the ideological questions; rather he wishes to picturize the direct vision of marginalized people’s life condition. Hence, he does not want to hide anything in his works, it seems as if an opened book.

The artist has the freedom to decide whether he needs the straight view or not. He should face the reality of the life. Still, Gayatri believes that hi words stand for his creation. By the result of imperialism and colonization in the undeveloped countries, the people have been forced to lead a broken life. Like India, their countries are being
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assigned already by the economical powers and these people have been facing a kind of permanent poverty. The court law shows the evidence of the hopeless condition of the destitute – without having proper shelter to live. The masses silently stares at the centre of powers which is fondling the pervert’s brutal rapes and selling of the victim’s flesh in the sex market as if in the slaughter home.

We can see a group of people; striking for thousands of days against the plundering of the drinking water which is being aggravated by the empirical powers, a group of peasants who fire their own fields as they cannot endure the annihilation of their crops in the terrible drought and the poor peasant’s cry in despair, the people who are committing suicide while they are unable to pay back the interest of their loans , are also the pictures of kerala.
The anxiety created by such revolving issues , not only lead us to the problems of plachimada ; palaghat ,Vayanadu, Suryanelli and Kuttanadu as he rather witnesses the vision of the struggles of the oppressed, living under paroxysm and poverty.

While flying the enticing kite of her wish, forgetting everything in this world, the girl is not conscious of the hunter’s betraying hands in her own resting place. The pervading issues of women abuse and the method of dealing of such issues by the centre of powers and the aristocrats; remind us some of the paintings of Gayatri in our mind just like o tragic movie. The artist ensigns the poor man’s destiny who are denied of justice.

Roosting of the birds on the big branches, the proximity of the temporary tents of gypsies, with in a frame work become a aerial view of visual experiences. The visual axis which is the part of artistic craftsmanship, experiences a kind of mobility like the trolley upper shot in the movies. It seems very easy with Gayatri as he is a film activist. The art has taken a new form and launched in the society through the artist like Gayatri, neglecting the history that the art was only meant for the upper class and the so called scholars once.

He makes his paintings transparent to make protect the sufferings of the poor hard working people and the burning realities in them, as if he wishes to change it enjoyable even for tem too. These paintings will surely make the demarcation of Kerala art history in the coming future.
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