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Pradeep Puthoor

Trivandrum, India Born 1965

Attained a BFA from the College of Fine Art (1988) in Thiruvananthapuram; Lecturer at the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram (1997-99)

 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

New works by Pradeep Puthoor, The Noble Sage, London (2010); Indian High Commission, Berlin and Potsdam, Germany (2007); Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi (2006); Indian Contemporary Art Representative, Florence Biennale, Italy (2005); Shrishti Art Gallery, Hyderabad (2005); Trivandrum Art Museum, Thiruvananthapuram (2002)

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

The Beating Heart of Kerala, The Noble Sage Art Gallery, London (2009); Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi (2008); Art Pilgrim Gallery, New Delhi (2008);Galleria, New Delhi (2008); Bajaj Capital Art House, NewDelhi (2008); Epicentre Art Show, Gurgaon (2008); Art Maestros, New Delhi (2008); Gallery Kolkata, Kolkata (2008); Gallery Space, Hyderabad (2008); Triva Contemporary, Thiruvananthapuram (2008); Artmosaic Gallery, Singapore (2008); The Next Awakening, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi (2008); Art Room Gallery, New Delhi (2007); Unayan, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi (2007); Gallery Limited Edition, New Delhi & Kolkata (2007); Fidaart Gallery, Singapore (2007); Satrang, Visual Arts Gallery, New Delhi (2007); Galerie Sara Arakkal, Bangalore(2006); Neetanjali Art Gallery, New Delhi (2006); University of Texas, U.S.A (2004); AIFAC Annual Camp and Annual Painting show, New Delhi (2002);Annual Exhibition, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (2000 & 2002); Musee Kwok on show, Paris (2000); Millfield Summer Exhibition, London (1999-2000); Annual Exhibition, Royal Overseas League, London (1995-97); Annual show, Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai (1994); Annual Exhibition, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (1993-94, 1997-98); Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (1993)

 

Selected Awards

Residency project, Berlin (2006); Jackson Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship Award for Painting (2003); Royal Overseas Award for painting, London (1997); International Poster Award (1994); National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi (1992); Highly Commended Award, Lalit Kala Akademi (1991-92); Highly Commended Award, Lalit Kala Akademi (1987)

I use my paintings to open an unexplored world, a place of curious self-expression, frozen memory, a world of evolutions and new ways of seeing. My paintings are in the middle of reality and imagination. All the elements are woven together in a tapestry that reveals to us that a composition of art that touches an onlooker psychologically and causes him to evolve, that in itself is as real as any experience. And that gives the paintings life. So the viewer in turn becomes as much a creator as the artist.

Kerala-based contemporary artist, Pradeep Puthoors art is dedicated to a fantastical world that is entirely his own. Strange creatures and imaginatively designed buildings and structures, colourful and playful, clutter his canvas. It was the high acclaim he received for his art that convinced the artist that his work had a value for others as well as himself. In 1992, at the age of 27, Puthoor received the Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi's first national award for a painting titled 'Air-Airy' (1992). A year later in 1993, the Human Resource Development Board for the Government of India gave him a Junior Research fellowship for painting. It was only then that he devoted himself to painting full time and gave up his day jobs. In 1997 he received the British Overseas League award for his work titled 'Mangled Mother' (1997)- now in the Singapore High Commissions collection in the UK. His art took a dramatic step forward after atrip to the UK where he was exposed to the work of the Old Masters and the thriving London art scene. In the following years his works received further critical praise and several awards including a fellowship from the prestigious Jackson Pollock Foundation in New York.

 

Few know that Puthoor used to be an illustrator and graphic designer in Bombay who painted at night as his own private passion. Illustration is certainly no surprise when one looks at his art today. Many works demonstrate the distinctive look of this skilled artform: precise linear draughtsmanship and flat, bright, highly choreographed colour. In this recent set of paper works acquired by The Noble Sage one can see the most minute of lines kept consistent in density and clarity. The exactitude is quite breath-taking. Like the work of Ravi Shankar, a fellow Keralan artist, Puthoor shows us just what is capable with a pen and paper. Even more striking however is the sense of vitality he can bring to the image; each line seems animated leaving us unsure if we are the animators or if it is the gift of the artist. This idea of viewer participation is significant to his work. Puthoor says that his paintings lie in the middle of a reality and imagination. All the elements are woven together in a tapestry that reveals to us a composition of art that touches an onlooker psychologically and causes him to evolve, that in itself is as real as any experience. And that gives the paintings life. So the viewer in turn becomes as much a creator as the artist. In this manner the artist relies on the viewer to react to each work so that it may come alive and take on a larger meaning.

 

The magical mechanics of achieving a Utopian civilisation appears to be a common factor of much of Puthoors work. In Pink Soul Island (2009), Puthoor uses a wide palette and a subtly symmetrical composition to depict an alternate version of a city skyline like that of Manhattan or Mumbai. Structures have bird heads at their peak, reminiscent of totem poles and other tribal imagery (a common motif in his work) though have a futuristic character too. This alternate urban universe has an immediate madcap appearance, however, because of the seas peaceful horizon in the background and the harmonious composition, the bizarreness of the scene soon relaxes into normality before the eye. The pink soul city appears mesmerising, inviting us to forget its unreality. Puthoor waves a wand over us leaving us spellbound by the possibility of an idyllic urban existence. In other works such as Ways of Impressing (2009), Erotic Landing (2009) and Survival Tips (2009), Pradeep investigates the pervading eroticism of all natures objects. In some phallic imagery is rather lucid, in others the sexual message comes through motifs such as thorns, venus flytraps and strange erogenous-looking forms.

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