K M Adimoolam

Whether I am a child or a middle-aged man, my heart and mind are filled with nature at all times. It is a wonderful experience, this love and wonder that causes my ever-creative and eager mind to penetrate the reality that is beyond our sight. Thus, my canvases reflect my mind's journey through nature, not as realistic land or seascapes, but as planes of colors that create an esoteric aura at a transcendental level. My concept has been evolving unilaterally for two decades with mere technical innovation and different exploitation of nuances. 

Colour fascinates K. M. Adimoolam. It is not about any specific image to interpret nature, so his paintings are abstract representations of the natural world purely through color. 

Born in 1938 in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, K. M. Adimoolam's natural aptitude for drawing at an early age made him move to Chennai in 1959. Under the influence of sculptor Dhanapal, he enrolled in the School of Arts and Crafts. After completing his Diploma in Advanced Painting in 1966, Adimoolam began a series of black and white portraits of Mahatma Gandhi. Drawing from photographs of the great man, he finished nearly a hundred drawings spanning over 60 years of the Mahatma's life. 

Around this time, he came into contact with Tamil writers and began associating with them, illustrating their works, after which he took up oil painting. Color entered his life, making him move from figurative to the abstract. Adimoolam now works with equal ease in drawing and painting, combining the two to produce a large body of work. 

My drawings and paintings help express my feelings. My drawings are not the exact copy of what I have seen through my eyes, but I feel that they are the impressions of beauty, which are constantly imprinted on my inner vision and emerge as black and white shapes on paper, she expresses. Reminiscent of a time long gone by, her sketches are a constant search for greater freedom of expression and serve as an outlet for her creative energy. They capture the essence of the subject in all its glory and yet leave something to the imagination with somber faces. 

My canvases are not representative of nature or the perception of my mind. My works are not limited by words, they are purely related to vision. A vision that attempts to reveal some untold truths of Nature, she adds. It is a truth told through hues that ripple across the canvas. In her own words, I interpret it through colors, without focusing on any aspect. No preconceived image has impeded my spontaneous interplay of colors. They create life, verve, emptiness and texture, and an inherent sense of energy. My innate optimism permeates the colors like the joy of living. 

Adimoolam's canvases partake of his inner energy and vision, emerging as an extension of his mind that seems to lay down color without reference to the artist himself. At least for half the stage of a painting, I act as a tool and only after that do I overcome this challenge, Adimoolam explains. 

That is the main reason for the spontaneity and freedom of Adimoolam's canvases, which seem to transport the viewer on a journey through space. As he asks himself: What else can art represent, except nature and people, two inseparable elements? 

K. M. Adimoolam passed away in January 2008.

BORN

26th July 1938, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu

DIED

January 15, 2008, Chennai 

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1960-66 Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai

SELECTED POSTHUMOUS EXHIBITIONS

2012 One Eye Sees, the Other Feels, The Viewing Room, Bombay

2010 Who Has Seen Gandhi?, presented by Tangerine Art Space at Raj Bhavan, KynKyny Art Gallery, and Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore

2010 K M Adimoolam A Retrospective, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2009 Indian Harvest, presented by Crimson The Art Resouce, Bangalore at SG Private Banking, Singapore

2008 From Beyond The Vindhyas, Ganges Art, Calcutta

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2007 Lines Form an Artistic Life, The Drawings of Adimoolam, book launch and exhibition, The Mint, New Delhi

2007 Abstract, Art Motif, New Delhi

2006 Solo exhibition, Saffronart, New York, as well as an online exhibition at Saffronart

2005 Berkeley Square Gallery, London

2003 Crimson Art Resource with Windsor Sheraton, Bangalore

2000 Art Heritage, New Delhi

1999 Crimson Art Gallery, Bangalore

1997 Retrospective exhibition of drawings (1962-1996) organized by Values ​​Art Foundation, Chennai, and jointly sponsored by Crimson Art Resource and Max Muller Bhavan, Bangalore

1994 British Council, Chennai

1993 Crimson Art Gallery, Bangalore

1987 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1981 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1969 Sarala Art Centre, Chennai

1969 100 drawings on Gandhiji to commemorate his birth centenary

1966 First solo exhibition, Chennai

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2007 Six Abstract Artists Show, Akar Prakar Gallery, Calcutta

2006 India Fine Arts, Bombay

2006 Art Motif, New Delhi

2006 Organized by Vinyasa Gallery, Chennai in New Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Chennai

2004 Indian Artists Show, Prakriti Gallery, Hong Kong

2004 Still Life, Art Motif, New Delhi

2004 Art Motif Gallery, New Delhi

2003 Five Chennai Artists Show, Vinyasa Gallery, Chennai

2003 Indian and Korean Artists in Korea

2002 Three Artists, Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi

2002 Landscapes, Art-Motif, New Delhi

2001 Art-Motif, New Delhi

1999 Six Indian Artists, London by Maya Art Gallery

1999 Small Formats, a group show of 6 artists in Chennai, Bangalore, Bombay, and Hyderabad, by Art in Crafts, Bangalore

1997 Major Trends, a group exhibition to commemorate 50 years of Indian Independence, curated by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1997 Major Trends, a group exhibition to commemorate 50 years of Indian Independence, jointly sponsored by Crimson Art Resource and Max Muller Bhavan, Bangalore

1996 Fund-raising exhibition for Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay

1996 Madras-An Emotion, organized by Values ​​Art Foundation, Chennai

1995 Gandhiji in Postcard, traveling exhibition in various cities of India

1995 Group exhibition of Indian artists, organized by Saralas Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan

1995 Three Indian Artists Show, Maya Gallery, Hong Kong

1995 Save the Children, charity exhibition in Bombay

1993 Wounds, Centre for International Modern Art (ClMA), Calcutta

1992 Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore

1992 Southern Regional Art Exhibition, by Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta

1991 9 Indian Artists by Walk-in-Gallery, Singapore

1991 Rimbaud-91, organized by Alliance France De Chennai, in Chennai and France

1990 Sakshi Gallery, Chennai

1990 Dhoomimal Art Centre, New Delhi

1990, 1991 Touch Stone shows by Sakshi Gallery Chennai and Bangalore

1989 Nature and Environment, exhibition organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1988 Sakshi Gallery, Chennai

1983, 1984 Sketch Book Series (drawings) Sarala Art Centre Chennai and Kritika Art Gallery, Bangalore

1983 Art Heritage Show, New Delhi

1973 Seven South Indian Painters, Australia

1972 Twenty-Five Years of Indian Art, New Delhi

SELECTED JOINT EXHIBITIONS

2003 Forum Art Gallery, Chennai

2001 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1995 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1993 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1991 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

PARTICIPATIONS

1987 19th Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil

1986 6th India Triennial, New Delhi

1986-89 Kala Yatra Exhibition, Bangalore

1963-85 National Art Exhibition, New Delhi

HONORS AND AWARD

1979 National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1978 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai

1973 Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta

1965, 1966 Hyderabad Art Society Award, Hyderabad

1965, 1966 Mumbai Art Society Award, Mumbai

1965 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai

1964 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai

1963 Chitra Kala Parishad, Bengaluru

1963 Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai