Shades of Soul: Art exhibition in Chennai featuring styles

CHENNAI: Dessin Academy is organising the 6th edition of ‘Shades of Souls’ at Ashvita’s, Royapettah till December 15.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Kalai Nanmani P Augustine. The show features the works of 17 artists who just received their diplomas from the academy.

Speaking to DT Next, R Rajendran, founder of Dessin Academy says, “We had the first show in 2010, titled ‘Infinite Expressions’- it featured kids and adults. Then later we had ‘Colourful Expressions’ which featured artists according to the area they were in. Later we had ‘Magical Expressions’ for artists out of Chennai.

“We were supposed to conduct ‘Shades of Soul’ with 34 artists before the lockdown. However, that did not happen and so we distributed it in two batches and have 17 artists this month.”

He says that the show does not have any theme and is all about what the artists want to paint. “Each person has their own style. For instance, the way they apply the paint, stroke the brush, choose the medium, and place their subject; all of this is subjective and that’s the beauty of it. You get to see various perceptions and unique styles of handling an idea,” he adds.

He continues saying originality is the base of the exhibition. People must see past the superficiality and see the work for what the artist intended it to be.

He says about future exhibitions, “In the month of January we will have the second batch and we hope it motivates people to come and support art.”

The artists featured at this exhibition are Anitha Kumari Iddum, Arjun Kumar, Bharathi Govindarajan, Binesh Subramanian, Charanya, Devika, Ponni Amabalavanan, Rekha Senthoor, Usha Kodeeswaran, Uma Maheshwari, Susithra, Shyamala Mullai Pandiyan, Vanitha, Ritu Tirupathi, Pratima Botu, Elango, and Deepak.

The exhibition is on till December 15 from 9.30 am to 8 pm at Ashvita’s Royapettah.