Hochimin Ph

WOMANSPEAK

IN AN angst-ridden world, artists exist vicariously through the emotional content of their protagonists. In a suite of paintings and sculptures titled Sthree Parwam a young artist from Kottayam dissects the sensibilities of women, and lays them bare as it were. Even when you feel you've felt it all, the protestations continue.

The lives of the women who inhabit Hochimin P H's canvases are singularly wretched, where the institution of marriage only accentuates their bondage. Through his art Hochimin seeks a way out of this repression; pessimistically concluding that "women can soar only when freed of their bangles and anklets."

The Narmada is an account of the controversy that surrounds the Sardar Sarovar project; the river takes on the form of a woman, as rivers in India are wont to do. The figure hovers and floats above; the tricolour is turned upside down, denoting that the entire project is anti-national and against the interests of the people. The tampering has left the area barren and desert-like; a vivid orange replaces the greenery.
The drawing is staccato but the artist is a gifted colourist. He succeeds in applying broad areas of flat colours, juxtaposing strident blues and inky blacks to get bold, clashing effects of base colours. He says the tonal variation enables him to use the space more effectively.

His works are highly symbolic. In a sculptural piece titled `Ottal,' Hochimin likens the femme vulnerability to that of fish. `Ottal' is a commonly used fishing device used in and around his hometown. Just as the fish meekly surrender to the fisherman's bait, women too fall prey to the machinations and brutalities of the men who control them. Even in his sculpture he remains true to his colouring style; turquoise and ochre are juxtaposed to get a stunning effect.

Hochimin isn't still decided how he wants to portray his central character. He vacillates; more often than not she is a study of despair and resignation as in `Erittunu Mulakodukkunnaval.' But in Ajin Bibi he does a volte face where she is described as powerful, drawing her strength from an inner resource.

So how does he define his woman, beaten and used or heroic in the aftermath of abuse? You come away wondering.

The exhibition is on at Contemporary Art Gallery, Durbar Hall, till March 24. 2004


SUNANDA KHANNA
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu

It is the art season and art galleries are abuzz with activity, or rather exhibitions. A group of six artists - Hochimin P. H, Abhilash Unni, A. K. Salim, Saju Padmanabhan, Sanam C. N and Sudheesh Kottembram - alumni of RLV Fine Arts College, Thripunithura, got together for a group exhibition.

The exhibition was an amalgamation of varied styles, mediums, sensibilities and preoccupations. Their preoccupation with the rapid rate of urbanisation, globalisation and the resultant depletion of the environment... all found expression in the exhibition.

"Our political beliefs brought us together. We could not help wondering where art is headed to. Most art these days seems to be devoid of a political language, the semantics of images and ideology. Combined with this is a concern for the quality of modern life," says Hochimin.

Although the concerns are common, each artist's highly stylised and individualistic paintings convey these eloquently.

On the one hand there is Salim's paintings of underwater life, of vegetation and animal life, on the other there are Sanam's charcoal etchings of his perception of indiscriminate urbanisation. Hochimin and Sanam did their post graduation in sculpture and their structured paintings show influences of sculpting which makes their works offbeat.

A couple of paintings by Saju Padmanabhan focus on life on the seaside. One striking painting has a coconut palm on the beach front, with an umbrella made of palm fronds and a couple of chairs. But for the dark angry looking sea, the painting could have been called happy. The message seems ominous, as with Abhilash Unni's paintings as well.

Abhilash's paintings have beautiful facades and verandas of houses in the foreground. The background is bleak. Sudheesh Kottembram's paintings have a surrealistic feel. "More than conveying what is conventionally understood to be political, there is the politics of images that each artist chooses. There is an ideology in that, and that I have tried to incorporate into my paintings," says Sudheesh.

Lack of human forms


Interestingly, very few of the paintings have human forms, as Hochimin sums it up, "Modern life is mechanical. There is no creativity at all. Cities are concrete jungles, life in cities are the same and human beings living in them are also becoming `concrete,' lifeless."

Hochimin's paintings seem to replicate his views, solid cubes devoid of windows, vegetation and life, the images convey very eloquently the dilemma of modern life and art, without attendant complexities of imagery.

The same goes for the entire exhibition.

2007____________________national Paintin camp/chettinadu/madurai/Tamizhnadu/contected by
Kerala lalitha kal academi

2006____________________kundara painting camp/kundara

2006____________________illusration camp/kerala lelitha kala academy/kottayam

2006____________________history congress painting camp/thiruvananthapuram

2005____________________terracotta sculpture camp/kerala lelitha kala academy/chennai regional centre

1998____________________suvarnam98 state camp/kochi

HOCHIMI P H
BORN IN ,MUNDAKAYAM,KOTTAYAM,KERALA

QUALIFICATION: MASTER OF FINEARTS SCULPTURE COMPLETED 2005. RLV COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS. .BACHILAR OF FINEARTS (SCULPTURE) COMPLETED 2003, RLV COLLEGE. NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN FINE ARTS (PAINTING)5YEAR CORSE COMPLETED 1998, RLV COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS, TRIPOONITHURA, KOCHI

SELECTED CAMP: ‘KADAL’ INTER STATE PAINTING CAMP ,MARARIKULAM 2009, CONTECTED BY KERALA LALITHA KALA ACADEMI. CHENNAI REGANAL CAMP, VAGAMON,KOTTAYAM, 2007CONTECTED BY SOUTH ZONE CULTUREL CENTER CHENNAI. ’THE LONG SILENCE’ DALITH CAMP VAGAMON 2007. NATIONAL PAINTING CAMP,CHETTINADU, THAMIZHNADU. CONTECTED BY KERALA LALITHAKALA ACADEMI 2007. STATE ILLESTRATION CAMP KOTTAYAM,CONTECTED BY KERALA LALITHAKALA ACADEMI 2007.PAINTING CAMP EMS AKADEMI TVM2006. TTERACOTTA CAMP KALAPEEDOM2006.PAINTING CAMP KALAPEEDOM 2006.TERACOTTA CHENNAI REGANAL CAMP 2005. PAINTING CAMP TRIPOONITHURA2005 COTECTED BY PROGRESSIVE ARTIST FORUM, 2005. ‘SUVARNNAM’ ART STUDENTS STATE CAMP,1998 TRIPOONITHURA,

SOLO EXHIBITION: SOLO EXHIBITION OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE2003 KERALA LALITHA KALA ACADEMI, KOCHI. SOLO EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS 1998, RLV COLLAGE OF FINE ARTS.

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS: ‘PROFANATIONS’ ART SHOW 2010 ZEN STUDIO GALLERY, LALITHA KALA ACADEMY ART GALLERY. 52nd NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF ART, LALITH KALA AKADEMI 2010 ,KOLKATA. ‘REMEMBER WHOM’ EXHIBITION OF ART DURBAR HALL ART GALLERY 2009.ART EXHIBITION, KYNKYNY ART GALLERY, BALGALORE 2009. 'TEN THERTY' EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS CHITHRAKALA PARISHATH, BALGALORE 2008,KERALA LALITHAKALA ACADEMI. 'REMINISCENCE OF RODIN'EXHIBITION OF SCULPTURE 2007, CONTECTED BY KERALA LALITHAKALA ACADEMI, KOCHI. 'UNTITLED' DURBAR HALL ART CENTER KOCHI 2007.6YUNG ARTIST 2007, DURBAR HALL ART CENTER KOCHI . ORTHIK ART CENTER KOCHI 2006. NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF PAINTING CONTECTED BY CGH EARTH, DURBAR HALL ART CENTER KOCHI 2006. KERALA LALITHAKALA ACADEMI TERRACOTTA EXHIBITION, LALITHA KALA ACADEMI ART GALLERY 2006.

Eve liberated by Hochimin
Thursday March 18 2004 09:56 IST

KOCHI: Now it’s eve in focus once again, with all her might and her vulnerability. At a time when her modesty and ego are continuously at stake, her plight is bound to be a recurring theme in the media. P.H Hochimin, the young artist, has rightly chosen the feminine physique as the medium by means of which he could express his strong anti-imperialist, anti-globalisation sentiments.

Aptly titled Sthree Parwam, the exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Hochimin, which started at the Durbar Hall Contemporary Art Gallery, provides a telling commentary of the wounded but liberated feminine psyche. It’s more of a celebration of the liberated femininity than a mere lament on her violated modesty. An untitled painting displayed here depicts the figure of a nude, winged female painting the zebra line of a public road, watched by another nude feminine prototype. The work strongly suggests the feminine invasion of some hitherto male-dominated domains.

‘‘Woman is nature and violation of woman is but the violation of the grace and chastity of nature,’’ holds Hochimin. The spate of trends relating to globalisation has recently led to many an excess including the selling away of rivers and other water resources. As a result, our rural women have lost the bathing ghats, their favourite venues of meeting. And this sense of loss is well-reflected in the painting titled Kadavu (The Bathing Ghat).

The painting ‘Breast-feeding the Darkness’ is the representation of the agony and despair of a woman who has no child before her to shower her affection. The image of a butterfly, which is shut, in a bottle nearby could be her own suppressed erotic self.

A work of sculpture titled Sthree is perhaps the most notable one in the whole exhibition. A winged female without hands is depicted as casting her eyes on the heavens as if in a prayer. What has prompted the work is the present state of affairs in our society which woman has very little role and freedom. Hence she doesn’t have the need of hands, the work seems to hold. Made of several layers of paper, the work stands out because of its sheer size.

Then there are the figures of a few fish perching on an inverted basket, in a work of sculpture. In terms of its politics, it’s the reversal of the fortunes of women in a society in which they are continuously victimised and persecuted. (The fish represent the women.)

Feminine nudity recurs in most of the works displayed here. In an untitled painting, there is a nude feminine physique depicted down from the waist. A few fish perch on the pubic area and the thighs. There are also the distant images of a few ships moving in an ocean. In another sculpture titled Sthree Jeevikkunnu (Woman Lives), a few women ascend their way upward on a spiral background. Carved out of large piece of root, it is the representation of the feminine advancement on the social ladder.

There are a few more notable works. Narmada represents a winged feminine figure flying over land and sea with an inverted tricolour in hand. The work, which is said to be inspired by the battle being waged by Medha Patkar against the Sardar Sarovar Project, holds that displacing people from their homeland is anti-national.

The works being displayed at the exhibition are noted for their thematic sincerity and clarity of vision. The recurring motif of the wing — which stands for feminine liberation — is a powerful one.