THE HINDU, Sunday, March 5, 2006

 

JOINT ENDEAVOUR: The collage by the two artists showcased at the exhibition. - PHOTO: T. SINGARAVELOU

On display, a collage of self portraits

The expo of two artists from France is an exploration of the eternal search
Deepa H Ramakrishnan

PONDICHERRY: What happens when two artists meet? ."When we met and discovered that we were both artists we wanted to know more about each other and so we Started doing each other's self portraits. We did five portraits, and during that time we got to know each other quite well.
"Each of us saw beyond the social face of the other and discovered wliat was deep inside the other person. That was when we started working on the collage, something both of us were familiar with," say artists Martine Quentric-Seguy and Chantal Gowa, whose exhibition is on at the Aurodhan Art Gallery at No: 33, Rue Francois Martin, Kurusu-kuppam till March 11. Titled "Who am I? Who are we? Answers in and on the box", the exhibition is an exploration of the eternal search.
"We are both spiritually inclined, she left everything she had to come to Auroville and I had done the same thing to go to Rishikesh.
"On the box we stuck bits and pieces of paper one by one as if stepping from one stone to another, but we did not go near the place that we wanted to go. It was like writing letters ...
"When one person wrote [stuck a piece of paper on the box] the other read what was inside and stuck another piece of paper in reply," says Mrs.Seguy.
Normally, when two artists or, for that matter, any two persons work together a clash of egos is inevitable, but these artists, both hailing from France and having met in Auroville about three years ago didn't have a single spat during the time that they worked on the collage.
The exhibition contains the huge collage made using pieces of handmade paper, music notes, pictures and their individual works, including their self portraits, paintings of the Mother and other collages.
"Though we struck a chord with each other, we also found that we were different.

"We wanted to see how we could integrate our work, ourselves and our personalities, and the collage is a result of that integration. We have been as sincere to the other as we have been to ourselves," says Chantal Gowa, the artist from Auroville. Both the artists have held several solo and group exhibitions and have been painting for more than 40 years now.

RETURN TO PREVIOUS PAGE ---------- RETURN TO HOME PAGE