Artist S G Vasudev’s journey into the tapestry art began 25 years ago when he visited Europe and got inspired by tapestries made by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and many others. Painted Weaves — the exhibition of tapestries in silk by Vasudev in collaboration with master weaver Subbarayalu showcased images from several of Vasudev’s series of creations like Tree of Life, Maithuna, Humanscape, Earthscapes and Theatre of Life. Subbarayalu and Vasudev have drawn on each other’s artistic mastery and ingenuity to create fresh, original works of art.The collaboration between Vasudev and weaver Subbarayalu, who he was introduced to by M.F. Husain. Subbarayalu, who had collaborated with Husain on a project earlier, was aware of the skill required to turn a painting into a tapestry. He agreed to collaborate with Vasudev — as long as the artist did not simplify his works just because he was painting for it to be converted into tapestry.“I used to see the tapestries based on Picasso’s and Monet’s works. I was looking for someone in Bengaluru and that’s when Husain had a show here. Subbarayalu gave me three conditions: one, I wouldn’t paint for a tapestry; there wouldn’t be any time frame and the remuneration should be good. I agreed to all three,” says Vasudev of his collaborator who is a traditional sari weaver and has earned accolades in the field.Born into a traditional weavers’ family, Subbarayulu was trained since the age of 14 by his father, Battina Venkata Subbaiah, who was himself a master weaver. He remained in Venkatagiri till he was 29, weaving cotton zari sarees in geometrical and floral designs. He went on to become a master weaver and created some fabulous designs that form the staple of the traditional weavers even now. He has passed on the baton and love for the handloom to his sons and daughter and many others who came to learn from him as a generous guru too.Born in Mysore (Karnataka) in 1941, Vasudev received recognition as a painter early in his career. He was awarded a National Scholarship by the Government of India in 1964, while he was a student of the Government College of Art, Madras, and a National Award from the All India Lalit Kala Akademi in 1967. Vasudev works in various mediums (drawings, paintings and reliefs in copper). He became well-known for his “Vriksha” (Tree of Life) series, which evolved over nearly a decade, turning into the Tree of Life and Death in the latter half of the 1980s. He also explored the theme of “Maithuna” (Act of Love) through a series of drawings,paintings and copper reliefs. Eventually his tree grew into faces titled “Humanscapes” and “Earthscapes.” The tree is still sometimes visible in his new series titled “Theatre of Life.”His tapestry works were created using a stand loom to hold the warp and facilitate the interweaving of the weft of silk thread in selected colours that were specially dyed for the purpose, creating a pictorial harmony of form, texture and colour.Talking about his passion towards textiles, Vasudev says, “My awareness and respect for indigenous crafts and textiles born when I was in art school, served as impetus for revisiting traditional practices with contemporary consciousness and overcoming the inevitable challenge of such a long-term collaborative experiment.”Vasudev, who is also the founder-member of the Cholamandal Artists Village, Chennai, feels that the Indian craftsmen are highly exploited in the country and it is sad to see that weavers are committing suicide as they don’t have jobs. He pointed out that the middlemen are to blame for this situation and efforts need to be made to remove the middleman.Vasudev has participated in several important group exhibitions in India and abroad including the Triennale India, the Paris Biennale, the Havana Biennale, India’s National Gallery of Modern Art show in Washington, the Festival of India in Tokyo and “The New South – Contemporary Painting & Sculpture from South India” in London. In addition, he has held solo exhibitions in different parts of India and the world including Canada, the USA and Germany. Exhibitions of his drawings based on the late A.K. Ramanujan’s poetry and translations, titled “Tribute to Ramanujan,” have been held in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, London and Chicago.Follow@ARTINFOIndia
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