Art director Ravees exhibits his oil paintings in Thiruvananthapuram -

Ravees with his oil paintings displayed at Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Ravees’s oil paintings celebrate the beauty of being simple and lucid. The exhibition, Beauty is Truth, currently on in Thiruvananthapuram, is the first solo show of the artist, who prefers to call himself Kuzhithurai Ravees after his place of birth in Kanyakumari district. A self-taught artist, he has participated in over 25 group exhibitions.

It is the attention to detail that brings out the magic in each of the 22 paintings on display. “My paintings are based on photographs, thousands of them I have come across at various points of time. I have always been particular about going into detail,” says Ravees, an art director in Tamil cinema.

Oil painting by Kuzhithurai Ravees
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

For example, in the painting titled Kathakali that shows a Kathakali face make-up, he points towards a light brown shade on the chutti or the white frame-like ridge that surrounds the jawline. “When touch-up make-up is done on the neck, it is natural for that colour to get smeared on the white chutti. It is a minute thing, but I wanted to include that detail,” he says.

The exhibition has several stand out works. Smile, for instance, captures the hearty smile of an old lady. Her wrinkled face, unkempt hair and that almost toothless smile — she has one tooth — will keep you hooked to the painting. Bathing Kid, which captures the unbridled joy and innocence of a kid while taking a bath, too vies for our attention.

Oil painting by Kuzhithurai Ravees
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The artist has also celebrated some renowned names – Rajinikanth, APJ Abdul Kalam, Zakir Hussain and musician Kaushiki Chakraborty. “I want my exhibition to be enjoyed by all. That is why I include different themes and subjects of interest,” he says.

An arresting work is Poverty that shows a kid latching on to his mother’s breast with welled-up eyes. The details in the work, especially on the child’s face and mother’s body, scream poverty.

Oil paintings by Kuzhithurai Ravees
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Besides oil paintings, he has showcased a thread art portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. “It took me four days to bring out his face through intricate arrangement of the thread. I have used the common stitching thread, over 4,000 strings of it, and 300 nails,” he says. A one-off pencil sketch portrait of maestro Ilaiyaraaja done on a mount board speaks volumes about his skill.