Working with ideas, which are highly personal, simultaneously representing the shifts and complex changes occurring worldwide, highly talented artists from the country are treading new paths that blend the historical past with the present, strike a balance between fact and fiction, fuse old and new identities, and raise socially relevant issues during a challenging period of societal flux. Justin Ponmany is one of them.
His creations largely owe their origin to the dynamic cityscape undergoing a constant metamorphosis, presenting its inhabitants a new set of challenges, and keeping them on their toes. To remain grounded in a city defined by flux, to put it bluntly, implies constant reinvention and adaptation of self.
The artist digs into the turmoil of the city life in this context, to seek inspiration and motivation for his painterly act. He ably captures the struggles of the ordinary beings through a contemporary and astute aesthetic. The street is oft-repeated metaphor for panning out self-images of a commuter in transit or trapped in a traffic jam, marking a moment of repose; a temporary rupture of the pervasive speed, shaping the world by sheer force.
He interprets living values to depict the changing cultural climate and also to project the city-state - the skyline and structures, with inbuilt plastic cables and wires. The artist even opts to distress surfaces of his canvases, creating gritty portraits drawn from day-to-day life. He prefers to work on and with definite documentary evidence contained in the print media and photographic images. As part of his painterly processes, the same undergoes many upgrades.
Employing unconventional modes and methods of expression, Ponmany ably conveys his artistic concerns. Using photo images as a basis of his work, he imbues the surfaces with resin, plastic, printer’s ink, holograms and salt to conceive his typically rugged stylistic effects. He also makes use of traditional acrylic paint, charcoal and smoke. The slick holographic media often coats the canvas, purposely sanded and worn away, akin to the scarred urban landscape of India.
His creations largely owe their origin to the dynamic cityscape undergoing a constant metamorphosis, presenting its inhabitants a new set of challenges, and keeping them on their toes. To remain grounded in a city defined by flux, to put it bluntly, implies constant reinvention and adaptation of self.
The artist digs into the turmoil of the city life in this context, to seek inspiration and motivation for his painterly act. He ably captures the struggles of the ordinary beings through a contemporary and astute aesthetic. The street is oft-repeated metaphor for panning out self-images of a commuter in transit or trapped in a traffic jam, marking a moment of repose; a temporary rupture of the pervasive speed, shaping the world by sheer force.
He interprets living values to depict the changing cultural climate and also to project the city-state - the skyline and structures, with inbuilt plastic cables and wires. The artist even opts to distress surfaces of his canvases, creating gritty portraits drawn from day-to-day life. He prefers to work on and with definite documentary evidence contained in the print media and photographic images. As part of his painterly processes, the same undergoes many upgrades.
Employing unconventional modes and methods of expression, Ponmany ably conveys his artistic concerns. Using photo images as a basis of his work, he imbues the surfaces with resin, plastic, printer’s ink, holograms and salt to conceive his typically rugged stylistic effects. He also makes use of traditional acrylic paint, charcoal and smoke. The slick holographic media often coats the canvas, purposely sanded and worn away, akin to the scarred urban landscape of India.
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