The
Holland-based Malayali artist, VN Aji's charcoal drawings, at the
Kochi Muziris Biennale, focuses on the eternal questions facing
mankind
Photo of Aji and Italian artist Franscesco Clemente by Ratheesh Sundaram
By
Shevlin Sebastian
The
Holland-based artist VN Aji has a touch of humour. When a female
journalism student asks him, with an impish smile, whether any girl
offered to marry him after seeing his drawings, at the Kochi Muziris
Biennale, Aji says, “Not yet.” This elicits a loud laugh from the
girl.
As
Aji talks, suddenly, a foreigner, in a black sherwani, comes up and
hugs him. “So nice to see you, friend,” says Aji, to the Italian
artist Francesco Clemente. Warm smiles are exchanged. Then Francesco
looks keenly at Aji's works.
They
are untitled, but Aji's forte is doing charcoal drawings on paper. In
one, which is 8' 2” in length, there are thick shrubs in the front
with a vast undulating land behind it. Up above is a forbidding dark
sky, with thick white clouds, at one side. “It began as a landscape
of Kerala and then it went off in a different direction,” he says.
“There is rain at one side. It is a scene at night.”
Like
many artists, Aji likes to ask questions. “Where do we come from?
Where do we go? Who am I? What is life? What is death?” he says.
“These are some of the subjects that I am exploring in my work.”
In
another work, he has drawn a seashore, with the waves hitting the
shore in a crash of white foam. The sky is jet black and so is the
shore. Despite the blackness, it looks like a scene from a Kerala
coastline.
“I
was born and brought up in Kerala,” he says. “So every cell of
mine is a Malayali. And that gets reflected in my work. But I also do
cityscapes, like Dubai, because I have been there. The city is
located in the vastness of the desert. How do you build a city like
that? The Netherlands has also influenced me in my art.”
Aji's
life changed when he met and fell in love with the Dutch artist Juul
Kraijer at a camp in Thiruvananthapuram. “The attraction between
human beings is always a mystery,” he says. “But since we are
both artists we could find a mutual wavelength.”
They
got married in 2000 at Thiruvananthapuram. Ever since, Aji has been
based at Rotterdam. Both of them have their own individual studios.
Aji works there from morning to evening every day.
Asked
whether he has faced any racism, Aji says, “Not at all. On the
other hand, I have received the highest scholarship for artistes in
the Netherlands. My works have been exhibited all over Europe.”
Aji
says the biggest advantage of being based in Europe is that he is
able to see world-class art, both contemporary and historical, all
the time. “At any moment I can go and observe the works of Pablo
Picasso, Paul Gauguin or Vincent Van Gogh,” he says. “They serve
as a huge inspiration. When you see their paintings, you get an idea
of the talent, dedication and hard work that is needed to produce
timeless art.”
But
there is also timeless art in India. “And the people love art
also,” says Aji. “If I tell somebody that I am an artist, they
will say 'Oh that is so nice'. I get a lot of respect. They think
artists are great people. It is part of our heritage. It is through
art that we find ourselves.”
Suddenly,
a blonde girl runs up to Aji. “This is Uma Maheswari, my
three-year-old daughter,” says Aji. “But she only speaks Dutch at
the moment.” Then Aji pauses, smiles, and says, “But as an artist
and a father, that is not an issue at all. Because art transcends all
the languages in the world.”
(Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)
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