The only true reality lies in the interaction between the physical and the psychological. I am to capture this movement in my work.

(Rm. Palaniappan)

Nature Morte is proud to present an exhibition of new works by Rm. Palaniappan. Born in 1957, Palaniappan lives and works in Chennai. His career spans more than four decades and includes a wide variety of works in all mediums, most specifically prints and works on paper.

His newest works are paintings using acrylic on canvas in a variety of sizes. Each painting contains the image of tangled lines, lines that meander in multiple directions, twisting and turning in on themselves. The lines change colors as they progress, adding both substance and personality, suggesting the journey of life. The works resemble cartographies of military maneuvers as seen from above, landscapes based on a new type of geographic perspective. As the artist has said: “Only someone flying in space can make a three-dimensional drawing and stretch it to infinity, thus expressing complete human freedom.” As described by the writer Sadanand Menon: “A neutral, non-anthropomorphic space, a kind of experimental geography and the possibility of proposing radical landscapes. Images of unnameable places and their visual representations, whether terrestrial or planetary or astronomical.” As studies of movement in space, the paintings could be said to address the latest developments in physics, namely theories of Quantum Entanglement.

Palaniappan’s family was involved with the commercial and graphic arts, his father being a distributor of calendar art and later his brothers owned printing and packaging companies. Palaniappan’s artistic practice from the late 1970s (when he was in art college) to the early 2000s was entirely dedicated to printmaking, collages, and graphic works on paper. This history is retained in the paintings today, as the borders of each are demarcated with contrasting colors, numbers hover in the margins, and the target devices used for registration are still present. The addition of sand to the paint creates a subtle texture in the paintings, further emphasizing their references to landscapes and cartography. In all, the artist’s interests in science, math and outer space (present since childhood and operative in his entire practice) are distilled into crystalized representations.