“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty,” Maya Angelou. Not often is one at a loss of words and this particular painting exhibition by children would have stunned your arty leanings. If these are the transformational years for the children of Nilofer Suleiman’s art class, one cannot begin to imagine what the future will bring for these beautiful butterflies.
When I looked at the work done by the students at their show, ‘The Little Picasso’ I was a mixed bag. First stunned , then awestruck and then in complete reverence. The beauty captured in each of these paintings was absolutely jaw dropping. The students have studied and worked on art inspired by varied artists and styles. They have then either made it contemporary or have represented the style in there own way, adopting all the elements of the original artiste.
The work inspired by Jayasri Burman is par excellence done by children aged 12 upwards. The other works are inspired by Ravishankar Subramaniam, Vincent Van Gogh, Amadeo Modigliani, Hussain, Vaikuntham, Amrita Shergill, amongst several others. The styles are varied and its interesting to see how Madhubani and Kalamkari , Egyptian art, stone age art etc are also represented in contemporary renditions, which is extraordinary. They have worked with different materials to achieve their unique styles.
It is evident that these children and their teachers, Nilofer, Malamma and Ibti are all immersed deeply in art and love every bit of what they do. Aptly described by none other than — Vincent van Gogh, “I dream my painting and I paint my dream,” explains it best. The exhibition was showcased at The Rangoli Art Gallery on MG Road last week.
The writer is a reputed ad film maker and an adverstising guru.
