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 Keralites
and nature lovers have an opportunity to witness the beauty of
God’s own country here in Chennai. They need not go to a
Malayalam movie to watch the beautiful lake surrounded by
luscious green trees and the Kerala’s own backwaters. All these
are available at the Russian Cultural Centre.
Landscape paintings of Kerala by artist Eby N. Joseph are
displayed, under the title, Kerala Darsanam. The exhibition,
which is conducted along with Russian Centre of Science and
Culture, is being held up to February 24.
There are 29 paintings exhibited, each
portraying Kerala’s beauty in a unique way. Each one actually
takes us to the original place. Some paintings even resemble a
high resolution image. One such is the painting of Bolgathy
palace, where the artist has drawn the golden rays of the sun
falling on the entrance of the house, making it bright and
realistic.
 Similarly,
another painting depicts a Cochin market, where an old lady is
seen selling fish. The artist has named her Kausalya (79) and
those who look at this particular painting would be spellbound
by its realism.
The other paintings which grab the viewer’s
attention are the old man smoking a cigarette, the huge lake and
the boat, the high range water falls, the fort of Cochin and the
beautiful Munnar. The prices range from Rs 10, 000 to Rs 60,
000.
All the paintings, despite their variation in
sizes are of acrylic colours.
 The
artist, Eby N. Joseph says that acrylic colours dry quickly, as
it is a fast medium. However, the oil painting is artist
friendly as improvements can be made and mistakes could be
rectified. He said that till now, he had painted 792 paintings
on the landscapes of Kerala. “My target is to touch one
thousand. Once I reach it, I would concentrate on the landscapes
of the entire India, which would include folk and festivals of
Tamil Nadu, the colourful clothes, camel, castles and forts of
Rajasthan and of course, the Himalayas”.
The artist is also an expert in drawing
portraits, which he would finish in 45 minutes. However, at this
exhibition he has no plans of drawing them, except for a few
special guests.
 Apart
from being his home town, is there any other special reason for
choosing Kerala? Without hesitation, he says that the state of
Kerala is known for its geographical diversity. For example,
Alappuzha is known for the world famous back waters. Similarly
each and every place has some speciality. The biological
diversity is also very important in Kerala, which comprises of
plants, trees, animals and insects. “Landscape is the metaphor
of Kerala”, he says.
Here is a chance for the Chennai dwellers to
see how Kumarakam, Kottayam, Chittoor and Cochin look like. The
title is very apt. The exhibition is indeed a visit to the
neighbouring state.
U. Bakialakshmi
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