Master Artist T V Santosh Leads Workshop for Students in Kochi

KOCHI:
Renowned artist T V Santosh is offering his fascinating insights on painting to a group of young artists as part of a workshop organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) at Pepper House. The workshop involves not only honing students’ painting skills, but also refining their ability to talk about their own artistic practices.
“Discussion is an integral part of the learning process, be it in academics or art. It helps students to process information, rather than simply receive it. The ultimate idea of discussion is to get students to practice thinking about the course material and enhance art,” he points out.
The workshop, under KBF’s ongoing Master Practice Studios programme, runs from September 5 to 25, and includes five young participants — Subhadip Bhattacharya, Daina Mohapatra, Natasha Sachdeva, Puja Mondal and Prachee Batra.
The painting workshop is the third Master Practice Studios workshop organised by KBF this year. Previously, eminent artists Valsan Koorma Kolleri and Orijit Sen had led sculpture and non-fiction comics workshop respectively as part of the programme in Kochi.
“The main aim behind this workshop is to observe the work done by the participating artists and find a positive solution for the problems or visual crises they face, with the help of collective discussions. These can include technical or conceptual issues. It also aims to develop an awareness regarding contemporary art,” said Santosh, who was a participating artist in the third edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale.
As part of this workshop, Santosh plans to produce a new painting as well. This is to showcase the technical and conceptual aspects of his work to the participants, allowing them to directly watch and respond to his process.
“Usually the workshops have a theme but this workshop gives freedom to the artists to work with their own ideas. I will evaluate the works and help them rectify any issues. As far art is concerned, the basic thing is freedom of thought. Hence, the medium used here is effective discussions. It can analyse the work from different perspectives; it can improvise a work and take it to a next level,” explains Santosh, who has acquired a major presence in India and abroad over the last decade with several successful shows with international galleries and museums.
KBF’s Master Practice Studios programme runs through the year at Pepper House, providing interested practitioners an opportunity to work over an extended duration with master artists.