When Leaves Rustle in Cool Breeze exhibition in Thiruvananthapuram is a homage to Fall

September marks the onset of autumn or Fall — an interval between spring’s bloom and winter’s gloom. Fall, as the name suggests, is considered a period of death and decay, as leaves slowly lose their lushness, stripped of vitality. The art exhibition, When Leaves Rustle in Cool Breeze, on at Vylopilly Samskrithi Bhavan, is a homage to decay, a reality in nature across species — from the crisp snap of a twig to hues of grey on a person’s hair.

Smile that Never Faded by Sumesh BS
| Photo Credit:
Nainu Oommen

Organised by Cochin Art Cube and curated by O Sunder, the show features more than 100 works by 30 artists. Paintings and installations by Bose Krishnamachari, Surendran Nair, Gigi Scaria, TV Santhosh, Rishin Zaman, Nithin Das, Dodsy Antony, Manoj Vyloor etc are on display.

“The exhibition is an extension of the annual art showcase held in Kochi by Cochin Art Cube. This show is for artists outside Kochi and budding artists who were selected on the basis of their work at degree shows in college. The young artists are given a platform to showcase their work with experienced artists,” says Sunder.

Curator O Sunder
| Photo Credit:
Nainu Oommen

An ode to decay

The curator says the exhibition’s theme is rooted in a liminal space between tradition and modernity.

Sriya Srinivas’s Nest of Dreams, a watercolour painting, depicts a bird making a nest out of dry leaves atop a branch, which itself seems to have begun to shrivel. The dry leaves provide padding for the nest, which is made of twigs. Decay, in this context, leads to something new.

Akhilesh DR’s oil on canvas painting, Jackfruit, depicts an ecosystem surrounding a jackfruit tree. The overripe fruits feasted on by squirrels and the leaves eaten by goats — all point to sustenance surrounding a single entity, and that at its various stages of development or decay, it has consumers.

Surendran’s Pensive Treepie is from his critically-acclaimed series Cuckoonebulopolis, a utopia mentioned in Ornithes (Birds) by Aristophanes in 414 BC, located between heaven and earth. The portrait features a crying woman resembling the treepie, a bird.

Bose has exhibited Stretched Bodies from his Human Bodies series. The artist has used a squeezer and mask to attain the patterns. Red, green, blue, and yellow dominate the canvas. The technique of adding paint drops to the canvas to obtain a unique pattern gives a three-dimensional nature.

Stretched bodies by Bose Krishnamachari
| Photo Credit:
Nainu Oommen

Godfrey Das’s two paintings are based on a scene at the Kozhikode beach. The watercolour depictions of a vegetated area are five years apart. While one is a replica of the scene filled with greenery, staying true to his vision, the second picture features hermits in white robes, entering the forest, leaving civilisation. The painting looks at decay through the lens of self-acceptance.

Rishin’s woodcut installation’s unique design using multiple colours is difficult to achieve. The piece, set in the backdrop of a household, is cautiously shaped to reflect a mother and son working with coconut branches.

Rishin’s woodcut installation’s unique design using multiple colours is difficult to achieve
| Photo Credit:
Nainu Oommen

A metallic installation at the exhibition, Smile that Never Faded, by Sumesh BS, stands out with its portrayal of a woman surrounded by kitchen utensils evocative of an image of a society steeped in misogyny. Mixers, grinders, a pulley used in the well, puttu kutti (a utensil used to make puttu)… the list of instruments holding her down goes on.

The exhibition is on until September 20.