JOIN USArt knows no boundaries. This was evident from the mixed crowd that turned up for the inauguration of the exhibition of drawings at Galerie De’Arts. Old and young, enthusiasts and onlookers, students and professionals, artists and poets — all rubbed shoulders to catch a glimpse of the 25 drawings at the exhibition titled ‘A Tribute to Ramanujan’ by S G Vasudev.
The inauguration coincided with the anniversary of the great poet A K Ramanujan and the art works are an illustration of his poems.
Said S G Vasudev, “Ramanujan and I were good friends for a long time. Once he saw my drawings and expressed a desire that his poems be illustrated by me.
I started working on this but unfortunately, he died soon after. Nevertheless, I continued with the project and illustrated many poems of his from many languages. But two of the drawings are not based on the poems. They are my interpretations of Ramanujan as a man.”
The first exhibition of these paintings was in 1995. Now, the works are on exhibit after 13 years since they were shown at the South Asian Studies Department, University of Chicago, in 2003.
“It is an important event because young people may not know about Ramanujan since it has been many years since his death. Also, this is a unique way of bringing together the two art forms,” says Dipali Pal, former regional director of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.
“I want literature and art to come closer. These are not commodities, like many people think. Music, art and literature are like forms of therapy,” says S G Vasudev.
The exhibition will be on view to the public till August 2 from 11 am to 6 pm.