User:M Narayan - The Artist

M. Narayan, born in 1967 comes from a small village in Karnataka called Mittiganahalli. He completed his B.F.A. from the Ken School of Art, Bangalore. With a strong sense for color and a steady hand in composition his paintings inspired by the regal sport polo have been a tremendous success.

Working since 1991 he has participated in over 30 solo exhibitions and many more group shows. An eminent entity in the art circuit, his works have been highly appreciated, purchased as well as commissioned by distinguished industrialists and enthusiasts, to name a few, Mr.Jaydev Mody, Dr.Vijay Mallya, Dr.Cyrus Poonawala, Avinash Bhosale were avid collectors of M.Narayanji’s works.

His ethnic rural depictions have a certain boldness of color while preserving the innocence of the subject. Just a single splash by him livens up the dullest of spaces & touches one’s soul.

M. Narayan’s paintings depict a zestful life. The lavishness of colours evokes celebrations and he bonheur. He reiterates through his painting that bright bold colours like turmeric yellow, kumkum red, Indigo blue, parrot green and Saffron orange capture the ethos of India. Defining this country given its diversity is always challenging. Narayan captures two of its distinct aspects in this body of work. One is the rustic, humble people and life in the remote areas in Karnataka. The other is the contrasting world of the equestrian sport of polo that engage a few privileged in Urban India.

The Pune based artist’s creative endeavors is aimed at capturing life in villages and hilly, forested areas ofhit native in Karnataka. Scenes like the weekend market or mela, religious procession like the mylara jathra held every year february and local shrines are captured in his depiction. He uses a series of familiar motifs associated striped grocery bags, lanterns, portrayal of one-metre coffee preparation is stainless steel tumblers, women carrying pots of water on their heads and, brightly coloured saris and men’s head gear.

He evokes an essence of the country side portraying its relaxed yet lively pace in his composition packed with people and their activities, when he overplays a motify like the lantern, its proportion is almost same as one of the human figures in the composition, he romanticieses the under privileged life styles and hardships that are absorbed as a matter of fact by the local farmers. He paints a narrative where a group of men is shown sitting on the ground and conversing. This scene showcases the social interactions as a leisure activity. Which is contrast from the 24/7 urban obsessions with social media exchanges. The role and omnipresence of religion and festivals in rural communities is depicted with towering images of deities and small figures of worshippers. He is inspired by roadside shrines as much as temple statue. The colours on the walls of the temples are incorporated into his compositions imbuing the feel of those places rather than depicting actual places.

The other set of works in this collection depicts his passion for horses. He portrays galloping horses in charcoal drawings and polo players. Using expressionist strokes, swabs of opaque colours and fierce charcoal lines beast’s power, speed mesmerizing aura are evoked. His compositions are flat layers of pigment as apoosed to perspective drawing. Forms are simplified. He uses bright dissonant hues to create a sense of space and evoke movement, depth and shape to the  animate and inanimate forms.

Under Narayan’s vision the pastoral springs to life and competes for attention against speedy, up-tempo urban life. The wild exuberant colour palette instills a passionate vigour in his creations which draw the viewer to see India through his eyes.