A Malayalee artist, Madhusudhanan, has been selected for the Venice Biennale, one of the the most coveted international art event, after its curator came across his works at the ongoing Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB '14).
"Kerala artist Madhusudhanan, who features in the ongoing second edition of the exhibition, has been selected to the upcoming Venice Biennale 2015 curated by Okwui Enwezor. It is a huge recognition of the fledgling Kochi Muziris Biennale (KMB)," Kochi Biennale Foundation said.
Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy.
"It is going to be a great experience. I can show my work in the Venice Biennale where top names from contemporary art will be showing their work," said the 1956-born Delhi-based Madhusudhanan whose exhibit at KMB'14 - Logic of Disappearance - is an installation of 90 charcoal drawings.
Displayed at Aspinwall House, the drawings are a complex landscape of memory, triggering flashbacks of an era gone by.
It would seem that the KMB '14 has become a site of global attention, with curators from prestigious museums and contemporary art spaces from around the world visiting the exhibition, and felicitating Kallat for the selection of artists, and for offering a young generation of Indian artists international exposure through the exhibition.
Bose Krishnamachari, Director of KMB'14, said Madhusudhanan would take his original work of 90 drawings along with 70 new ones for the Venice Biennale. The 70 new drawings are on the Malabar rebellion of 1921.
"It is the memory of known and unknown freedom fighters that was an inspiration for me. The work depicts the 'wagon tragedy' where nationalists were crammed into a freight wagon and most of them suffocated to death," said Madhusudhanan.
Bose said barely into its second edition, the KMB has been creating ripple effects, inspiring international artists and institutions to associate it with its credibility.
"The Venice Biennale is the most coveted international art event. We are happy that artists from Kerala, like Madhusudhanan, are being selected for internationally acclaimed art events," he said.
