Rulers in art: Expo in the city to explore mathematics in art

CHENNAI: You see distinct shapes, figures, and structures in your everyday life. Does it ever occur to you that there are traces of mathematics in the essence of life and art? In the making, of these aesthetically pleasing figurines and designs, there is more than what meets the eye.

Apparao Gallery is organising ‘Geometry and Art: An age-long parallel’ on September 8 featuring five Tamil Nadu-based artists, RM Palaniappan, P Gopinath, N Ramachandran, Dhasan, and Arvind Sundar. Speaking to DT Next curator Sharan Apparao says, “This entire year I decided to focus a little bit on geometry, art and aesthetics. Geometry is a very important part of aesthetics in many ways.

“When you look at Indian art, it predominantly mirrors or, are parts of temple plans. If you look at the overall world of architecture, mathematics is part of it. Mathematical concepts like infinity, time and even space concepts involving the sun and the moon, all of this originated from India. The basis of the exhibition is exploring these concepts through art.”

She also explains how ancient temple plans resemble that of the human body whether viewed horizontally or vertically. Sharan further says the idea of proportion originated in India and was inscribed in ancient texts. These texts found their way across the globe with exploration and advancements in travel.Art

N Ramachandran

To introduce people to India’s contribution to maths, arts and aesthetics, Sharan has decided to curate a show dedicated to showcasing and celebrating geometric works and also organising lectures on the same.

Talking about the art styles of the artists being featured in the exhibition she says, “Palaniappan’s works have a common theme and they basically revolve around the sun and the moon. The idea of space travels through his canvas. He then slowly progressed to tracing the path between the sun and the moon. His works are also influenced by architecture and human movement. They establish a relationship between architecture and human movement.”

Illustrating further she says that during the fall of the Berlin Wall, a lot of building activity took place in Berlin. Palaniappan took several pictures of it and created a collage out of it. With it, he was able to trace the movement through which humans moved. This collage later materialised into his paintings.

“Gopinath’s entire collection of works is about abstracting the human body and breaking it up into different geometric forms and planes. Ramachandran uses the idea of the grid in his works and uses natural elements in the form of grids. His work can be considered a form of urban deconstruction. Dhasan’s works use the idea of infinity and portray the circle of life. Arvind’s works are predominantly funky abstracts. He has made flat structures using rulers and measuring tape,” she says describing the artists’ works.

Sharan says that she hopes for people to have an open mind while viewing these installations and that the concept clicks. The exhibition is taking place on September 8 at Apparao Galleries from 3.00 pm to 6.30 pm.