Tropical (Illustration Friday topic) in Gond inspired painting...
‘Tropical’ is something am always fond of for its wildly bursting flowers of myriad warm hues, deliciously looking birds, blue beaches mesmerizing with its rhythmic waves and the sun-kissed nature.
*Gond Painting - It is the tribal art of Madhya Pradesh and has it's origins from the Gonds, the largest Adivasi (tribal) community of Dravidian origin. The term comes from Kond which means Green Mountains in the Dravidian idiom. They inhabited the Vindhyas, Satpura and Mandla region. As most tribal culture would have it, they were closely bonded with nature as is every form of their art. They believe in supernatural forces and Gods and Goddesses as their protectors, their supreme lord being Badadev. They are an agricultural community.Their art is supposed be an expression of their everyday quest for life. They decorated their houses and floors with traditional tatoos and motifs.The fine lines, dots and dashes of traditional Gond Pradhan motifs were introduced to the world by the late painter J.Swaminathan, who discovered a talented seventeen year old Jangarh Singh Shyam decorating the huts of Patangarh in Madhya Pradesh. Jangarh's meteoric rise to fame was marked by his acclaimed exhibitions in Paris and Tokyo and ended on a tragic note with his suicide.
The legacy of Jangarh is captured in the artistic brilliance and creativity of his family who he had mentored in this traditional art form, and thus came about the resurgence of a whole new generation of Shyam.
