Wednesday, April 10, 2013

A versatile practitioner with diverse artistic concerns

Artist Murali Cheeroth draws his inspiration from the built environment, rather than the luxurious flora and fauna he grew up with in his native land. His works are configured with codes and clues, which turn into cultural maps of his lived environment.  His paintings are noteworthy for their incredibly slick surfaces, vivid colors, focused attention and subtle, surreal composition. His involvement with theatre coupled with continuing interest in cinema has allowed him to present vivid images – drawn from photography, cinema, or the digital world - through dramatic ambiance.

Born in Thrissur in the southern Indian state of Kerala in 1966, the Bangalore-based practitioner first acquired a Diploma in Painting from Govt. College of Art, Trissur in 1987. Later he completed his BFA in 1992 and MFA in 1995 from Kalabhavan, Santiniketan plus an advanced diploma in digital media.

He was awarded with Kanoria Scholarship for Print Making (1997); Junior Fellowship, research in fiber art and Cultural Scholarship from the Department of Culture, Union Ministry of Human Resource (1997-99 and 1993-95) ; Kerala State Lalit Kala Akademi award (1997-98); and Merit scholarship. Kalabhavan, Santhiniketan (1989-94), among others.

In recent years, he has had many exhibits and participation in shows across India and internationally such as ‘Habitus' Sumukha Gallery, Chennai and Bangalore; 'Unmarked' at Viart Gallery, New Delhi; 'Surviving sagas' Visual Arts Gallery, IHC courtesy Ashna Gallery; 'The masters corner', Museum gallery; 'If I Were A Saint', Shrine empire gallery, Delhi; and 'Ways of seeing' Galley Soulflower & ICCR, Bangkok , Thailand.

His work has also been featured at ‘Hot shots’, Gallery Viewing Room, Mumbai; ‘Popular reality’, Stainless Gallery, Delhi and Jam Jar Gallery, Dubai; SH Contemporary Shanghai courtesy Viart Gallery; a group show by The Art Trust, Mumbai; and ‘The sun rises in the east - Contemporary art from India’, Gallerie Christian Hosp, Austria.The talented artist’s engagement with institutions such as CEPT, Ahmedabad; Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal; Kanoria Centre for Art, Ahmedabad, National Institute of Design; and College of Architecture, Ahmedabad in different roles as a resident artist or a faculty stems from his wide-ranging conceptual and figurative concerns.

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