K. M. Adimoolam

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

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.

Notification - We do not usually display K. M. Adimoolam's work, only send it to private art collectors and interested art buyers.

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