Layers of body pieces, fragmentary text and mediums dominate the work of veteran artist C. Douglas on display after more than a decade
Layers of body pieces, fragmentary text and mediums dominate the work of veteran artist C. Douglas on display after more than a decade
In the words of curator Ashwin Rajagopalan: C Douglas is “the quintessential artist”.
Unpredictable, chaotic and layered, his art is simply a reflection of who he is. And so, it’s no surprise that he declined to speak for the piece. However, his canvases speak volumes. Displayed at Gallery Veda, with four ceramic companions in Ashvita’s gallery, the collaborative show is a window into the world of Douglas – a world that is famous, rarely displayed. It has been over a decade since Chennai saw a solo show of the veteran’s work.
Artist C. Douglas | photo credit: Kumar SS
It is no news that shreds of body, fragmented text and layers of medium dominate his work: the vacuum, hollowness or void that is inside of us all deserve their artistic expression. And so, though he revels in abstraction, Douglas’ work connects the individual to the innermost truth of the self. A strange, strange sense of relativity quickly catches on to the audience.
For example, an untitled work from the ’90s, featuring various shades of black, gray, and blue, is filled with familiar motifs (think: ladders, speech bubbles, angular faces, skeletal hands, all thrown together). This is inconvenient. Maybe that’s the point. A circular canvas displayed in the Gallery Veda takes on a soothing tone, but only in terms of colours. Titled ‘The Fountain and the Bird Song’, the heavily textured work is probably filled with mutilated parts of a mannequin or stick-like figure.
One of the works of Douglas | photo credit: special arrangement
While the Gallery Veda houses 33 of his paintings, Katha travels further to give a glimpse of his work, with four of his ceramic sculptures being displayed in Ashvita. The work was done in 1994 with Indian contemporary artist Bhupen Khakhar at an artist-in-residency program in Osterwijk, Netherlands.
And Douglass doesn’t fail to refer to himself in his sculptures as well. Similarities are unacceptable. “Both Bhupen and Douglas are not sculptors, but they were made to use the medium so you can see that he is interpreting his works on a three-dimensional medium. There can only be one or two more sculptures.” A geometric oil on canvas from 1981, one of Douglas’ earlier works, on display also shows a time when he was experimenting with texture.
Ashwin tries to paint a picture of Douglas’ working style which one can only describe as ‘in the moment’. “He traditionally does not use stretched canvas. He uses canvas to give it, sticks paper on it and shreds the paper [textural] influence. And then of course, he brings in the text. Then there’s sand, tea, charcoal, and if he’s smoking, cigarette ashes…”
The show is running till October 1 at Galleries Veda, Nungambakkam and till October 10 at Ashvita Gallery, Radhakrishnan Salai.