KM Madhusudhanan: Shadow Play

K.M. Madhusudhanan’s works don’t make for hasty viewing. You need to slow down, and allow the artwork to reveal its details to you. For instance, when one views Hunters in the Desert from afar, the large goatskin seems akin to a sacrificial element, tethered to the wall by threads. On stepping closer, you see a perforated portrait of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama lit up with LED lights. The work acts as a pensieve of sorts, offering a glimpse of Madhusudhanan’s childhood memories, of his tryst with the art of Tholpavakoothu (shadow puppetry) in Kerala. He has adapted the technique to create perforated goatskin canvases, which he then articulates with charcoal and ink. Experiments and concepts such as these have kept him busy over the past two years, resulting in a new body of works, ranging from oil paintings and sculptures to ink-and-charcoal drawings. One saw a glimpse of these at his recent solo, Granite, Lamp & Mirror, at the Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi.

8 November 2018