The spirit and works of ks vass

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

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Dancers - First spread K.S.Vass

The Spirit And Works Of

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For my parents Sri Koppada Venugopalam

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Smt. Koppada Mangatayaru

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

THE SPIRIT AND WORKS OF

K.S.VASS By Smt. K. Rukmini Devi

New Art Wave Studio : 12-196, Sri Lakshmi Nagar Colony, Badangpet, Saroornagar Mandal, Rangareddy Dt., Hyderabad - 500 058, Telangana, India. e: k.s.vass1@gmail.com m: +91 92473 67197, +91 92928 00887

Published in 2016 Chief Editor: Rajeshwar Mittapalli, Professor of English, Kakatiya University, Warangal - 506 009, Telangana, India.

Editors: Mrs. K.Madhavi Latha, M.A. (Eng.Litt.)

Mr. K.Venugopal, M.A. (Eng Litt.), M.B.A., B.Ed.

Design: B.V. Krishna e: bvkrishna@me.com m: +91 98480 75796

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Contents Acknowledgements 1 Message

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About Koppada Venugopalam

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Critique 4 Overview of the book

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Spirit and Works of K.S.Vass

Part 1 :Spirit of K.S.Vass

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Part 2 : Early life

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Part 3 : Influences

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Part 4 : Vass’ vision

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Key ideas of illustrations

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References 100

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Vass is thankful to his father Sri Koppada Venugopalam who gave him life, art and wisdom. His mother Smt. Mangatayaru who gave him immense love and affection and his dear brothers, Sri K. Ranga Rao, Sri K. Raghava Rao, Sri K. Siva Prasad, Sri K.Murali Krishna, Sri K. Shyam Sundar and his sisters, Smt Ch. Lalitha, Smt V. Leela, Smt P. Rukmini who helped and supported him in his life and art career. He is also thankful to Sri V. Raghu Ram Naidu, B. Sampath Kumar and M. Navakanth for their valuable contributions. He is greatly indebted to his wife, Smt K. Rukmini Devi, who stood by him through thick and thin, and has been the supporter of his creative works throughout his career.

He is also thankful to his friends, Kalaratna Dr. B. A. Reddy, (who has helped and guided him in his art career immensely), Dr. P. R. Raju, Dr. Jayanth, Sri.R.Subhash Babu, Sri M. S. Murthy, Sri Rasavelu, Sri M. Saibabu, Sri N Bhaskar, Sri Ventapalli Satyanarayana and Sri Makinedu Surya Bhaskar who also supported him in his art career. He is greatful to Sri Rallabandi Kavitha Prasad, Director, Dept. of Culture, A.P. and Dr. A Nagendhar Reddy, Director, Salarjung Museum, Hyd. He is also thankful to Prof. Rajeshwar Mittapalli (Dept. of English, Kakatiya University, Warangal), Prof. Paramjeet Singh (Chairman, AIFACS, New Delhi) and Sri Naveen Kishore (Seagull books, Kolkata, West Bengal) for their guidance.

He is also grateful to Smt B. Padma Reddy, Sri G. Anand for their valuable writings and their incredible support in bringing out this book. He is also thankful to his beloved students P. Srujan, B. V. Krishna, D. Durga Prasad and M. Siva who have helped him in many ways. He is also thankful to Mr. Nataraj Saraf and Mr. Nataraj Kavuri for their help and guidance. He would also like to express his gratitude to all those individuals, galleries and institutions who helped him to promote his art works. He is thankful to Google for providing information about art world and history, and thanks also to subject specialists of Visual arts of various sites and many references of quotable quotes.

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Prof. Paramjeet Singh Chairman,

All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, New Delhi.

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

Kala Prapoorna Sri Koppada Venugopalam 1900-1973, (father of K.S.Vass) recipient of Grigg Memorial Gold medal for painting, was an artist of Pre-eminence. He trained many students in art who obtained Govt. Diplomas and got jobs in high schools, agriculture and medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Padmasri Dr. S. V. Rama Rao, Kalaratna Dr. B. A. Reddy, Sri S. Suranna, Sri Kaladhar (cine art directors), Sri. L. S. Babjee and many others were his students.

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Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings, Always darker, emptier and simple.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Mr. K.S.Vass : A Rendezvous With Self

Trying to fit into a society that really does not fit you has been a cumbersome effort for many a creative soul. ‘Perfect’ understanding and intended harmony in sync with the restless and evolving mind looking for the simplest of ‘goodness’ shunning away complexity has been elusive for many innovative people. While several accept, manage and juggle with these disdains and eventually propel themselves into the limelight to be ‘known’ for their creative ventures, a large number are nestled in the realms of their own mushy corridors of sensitivity, in rendezvous with themselves and their renditions. They are no less heroic.

For, it takes much more being oneself- uncompromising in work, toiling for the pleasure of work itself and nothing less. Unknown to himself, Sri. Vass has over the years bracketed himself into being one of these heroes.

My introduction to Mr. Vass as a person has been through my father Dr.B.A.Reddy who happens to be a student of Sri. K. Venugopalam, Father of Mr. Vass. Of conversations that are bound to happen between father and child, I am an audience to several monologues of my father’s days as a student of Sri. Venugopalam at his residence in Gudivada. Bits of information about a shy child Srinivas would trickle in but nothing more. So when I met Mr. Vass much later as an artist who was practicing full time in Vijayawada, putting things together, I perceived him to be an academic expert (as his father) with the usual passion of an artist and segments of artistic ventures much in tune with the art scene of Vijayawada with its brand of romance, beauty and convention. What I was not ready for was his brand of romance and beauty - dark, brooding, probing into the depths of human psyche; assessing situations, moods and leaving an expansive room for free interpretation. Here was an introspective mind uncompromising to the notions of traditional beauty and legitimizing the other side - dark, sinister and a skewed version of beauty, rendered with an expertise that comes more from raw passion and innate understanding rather than mere academic learning.

He seemed as comfortable with abstraction.

As a visitor, often to our home, studio and our Rural Art Center ‘Sanskriti’, I have been an observer of this exceedingly gentle man speaking at his own pace about things that are not really mundane. A conversation or a talk among other things, replete with anecdotes, poetic references, philosophical interludes, nuances - velvety and sublime and poignant remembrances, Mr. Vass, venturing verbally into cultural, social and personal ramifications, soirees about art, its necessity, what it can do to people etc, unknown to himself transforms into an intellectual, with an amalgamation of thoughts, endearingly unconscious about the subtle sway that he has on keen listeners. At times he is a person marvelling at simplest of pleasures, at times a deep contemplator delving into the metamorphic nature of the mankind mushrooming with unforeseen and unnecessary issues for mere survival.

B.Padma Reddy The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

1 Portrait of Smt.K.Rukmini Devi (wife of K.S.Vass)

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What makes Mr. Vass what he is?? It has been a life of upheavals, never touched by affluence or grandeur and with meagre resources he navigated and steered, bringing the world to himself. Traversing across people, history, literature, art, social, cultural, political movements across oceans and continents he enriched and satiated his quest for knowledge through books and written material. It has always been a restless and seeking mind. A mind trapped in the compelling and dominating dictum of social norms. Yet like several others Mr. Vass played the balancing act - sometimes faltering sometimes steady and generally unrattled.

The act became a little more comfortable with the presence of his amazingly dynamic wife Mrs. Rukmini Devi. It would be befitting to say that with this brief and pleasant interlude of his marriage to her he found a soul mate and true companion crusading along with him as a support in his artistic endeavours.

The shy boy who played around in his father’s classes which was home to many art pursuing students in an atmosphere that probably imbibed in him the love of art and the beauty of artistic activity that necessitated him to carry it all along his life. It has been a chord treasured in his heart that travelled with him as a peacemaker, catalyst and reinforce that could help translate his pains into pleasure and help him being a patron to himself. It is this accumulation of diverse knowledge and the need to enjoy various genre that culminated into an array of work in terms of concept and color. If at times he is into a poetic repertoire in fanciful hues of a luminescent palette, predominantly he is a deeply introspective brooding artist poking the authoritarian dictates of the society and the complex nature of the human mind and in succession he effortlessly alters into abstraction. His work appears spontaneous, yet the playfulness is assertively controlled. It is a double edged stock of a passionate painter in love with the process of painting and the necessity to give form to the psycho visual activity that happens in his self.

Mr. Vass works are an accomplishment of a continuous and conscientious thinking and unbridled belief in the ethos of his own ideology and more importantly regular association with a diverse genre of material . Art has been a compulsion that is destined to happen to him.

B.Padma Reddy Artist and Writer., Post Graduate in Print Making (MSU, Baroda)., Post Graduate in Indian History and Culture (Osmania University), Founder of Sanskriti Rural Art Centre.

B.Padma Reddy The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

2 Madhavi Latha at seven

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The notion of “Art”, in academic circles is understood in diverse ways. As some believe in the creation of innovative visual languages advocating for autonomy of art, others define art as a manifestation of schematic envisions and intuitive expressions that get translated into intelligible visuals while a few others see it as an act of “chance”. However, it is true that any art is a ceaseless intellectual activity that is embedded in an artist’s own receptive experience and reflects his artistic insight.

Making and Meaning: Relocating Art of Koppada S. Vass

Koppada S.Vass is one such artist whose artworks may be termed as an integration of image, imaginary and imagination, which substantiates intellectual engagement of the maker with its making and meaning. As a visual artist, he tends to construct and reconstruct the known and an own narrative to achieve aesthetic beauty, many a times, a subjective reading or a sahridaya is all that is needed to re-interpret it.

Every artist has his/her own approach that falls into a continuum of what he/ she has learnt from academic training and strive to develop an individualistic idiom transgressing the so-called canonical traditions of art. In this process, the selective approach may be either representational or non-representational but it is, nevertheless an indubitable visual expression, that functions with its own signification. The long journey of “making and meaning” cannot be examined in the isolation of artistic traditions and relative social, political and cultural developments.

In the case Koppada.S.Vass, the making and meaning is not a complex agenda but seem to be a flux of artistic emotions. The emotions are the resultants of the critical readings that he understood and analysed with a sense of rationality.

His profound interest in History, Philosophy and Literature shaped his persona.

Thus, his approach to the picture-making is fore grounded in the very complexity of image, imaginary and imagination. For him, image is a means through which one can enter into the domain of conflict and solace in search of absolute truth and negation of it. Hence, it appears that the undertones of his fluid renditions are arbitrary, as the artist oscillates between the terrains of the langue and the real expression and at times, these undertones convolute into austere formalistic deceptions.

It seems that Vass deliberately, if not precisely, attempts to speak his own language using an atypical pictorial vocabulary. The diverse formalistic devices which are endowed by his Modernist predecessors not only characterize his art but also reflect the nuances of artistic practices he witnessed as an ‘outsider’ of the so-called mainstream. As an ‘insider’ of the most celebrated language of art, he continued to be a Modernist, silently probing the academic habitus of classifications such as, “representational” and “non-representational” while negotiating with “the network of oppositions” (Bourdieu 1984). Perhaps, it would be more meaningful if we study the body of works in the context of the art practices in the South, particularly focusing on the role of art institutions.

Several artists belonging to pre-independence era had studied in Santiniketan, Bombay and Madras brought various artistic styles to the region. The Art schools, which were established in Andhra, evidently brought academic instruction to Anand Gadapa The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

3 Sandhya raga

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the region by early 20th century. The Andhra Jateeya Kalasala (National College of Andhra) of Machilipatnam was established in 1907 on the lines of Swadeshi ideology. Under the guidance of Promod Kumar Chatterjee and Ramendranath Chakrawarthy, several artists explored Indian themes employing Oriental technique. The origin of the institution, ‘aimed at a model which would help people of the region in understanding the Nationalist ideology and contribute to the ongoing ‘’Swadeshi’’ movement’(Sudha 1996). Later, artists such as S.V.S.Rama Rao, Gopalakrishna Gokhale, T.Keshava Rao, Kumarila Swamy, Mantravadi Venkataratnam, Pilaka Narsimha Murthy and others developed the Revivalist idiom employing different techniques and portrayed various subjects.

A few others experimented with an amalgamation of both Revivalist language and Raja Ravi Varma’s Naturalistic style. Gurram Mallaiah, Kumarila Swamy, Kondapally Sheshagiri Rao, Sukumar Deuskar and few others came back to Telangana with Santiniketan baggage and further developed their personalized idioms bridging between the Santiniketan and the Hyderabad schools. While artists, who studied in Kalabhavan brought Revivalist idiom, few painters went on to study in J. J. School of Art, Mumbai and Madras. Interestingly, artists who studied in this institution were largely drawn to “Academic Realism” and Semi-Abstraction. The College of Arts and Crafts in Hyderabad, which was established by the 40’s with similar Modernist bent and produced numerous artists who adopted eclectic styles influenced by the Progressive Groups.

This is the period, when Koppada Venugopalam, a prominent self-taught artist, was running an art institution in Gudiwada, Andhra Pradesh and imparting the western techniques to his students such as S.V. Ramarao, L.S.Babjee and others.

The young Vass grew up watching his father work on naturalistic portraits and picturesque landscapes. It is true that many aspirants, who received tutelage under Koppada Venugopalam earned name and fame as professional artists.

Unfortunately, no art historical writings mention the contribution of such artists. Due to lack of art writing on this art practice neither any curriculum mentions about these artists nor their contribution. Even though, artists such as W.A.Aryadas, T.G.Gupta, Damerla Rama Rao, S.Dhanpal, S.Suryanarayana Murthy, Chamakurthi Sathyanarayana, V.MadhusudanRao, A.PaidiRaju and others were active in the art field, they gained little or no recognition globally due to lack of writing except a few articles in vernacular weeklies and magazines.

At this juncture, one may assume that despite their absence in the art historical writings the veteran artists of this period must have inspired younger artists with their diverse art practices. During this period, one can observe a sort of hybrid visual idioms as the artists took their inspiration from native folk and traditional art as well as post-war Western art practices. Perhaps this is the reason why art in Andhra and Telangana was predominately semi-figurative, operating beyond the notion of Nationalism.

Not surprisingly, Vass silently witnessed these changes and understood the historicity of art and significant breakthroughs, which gave rise to new movements grappling with the idea of “Modernism” in Indian context. Unlike many artists, who argued for indigenous Modernism, he had certainly not shown aversion to the radical approaches of the artists and their experimentation, as he Anand Gadapa The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

4 The Rock and cloud

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believed that these creations have their own beauty and conviction. Evidently, Vass assimilates various artistic styles revisiting and experimenting with the tools endowed by the Modernists.

Hence, the paintings of Vass do not fall in the category of “Abstract” as most of them are Representational, Semi-figurative and Expressionistic. As the free-style treatment of the surface and application of tonalities with subdued hues occupy the vast areas of the visual space, it evokes a sense of Abstraction.

However, he makes a conscious challenge to recapture the sense of ambiguity employing both representative and non representative devices. Just like his favourite artist Francis Newton Souza, the formalistic disposition of the body of works predictably brings forth a voluntary mode of expressing meaning inhibited in its hidden structure/signification. The compositions with enmeshed and intertwined figures are heavily overlapped and embedded within layers of opacity, suggesting his disagreement with representative character of the paintings, though the direct titles imply the intended meaning. The forms are grouped and juxtaposed corresponding a contour of the opus, which however, do not portray anything that can be easily recognised. The artist stimulates the onlookers to engage with meaning making, understating the implied aesthetic relish and compels to interpret the camouflaged imagery. Thus, these gestural images can be seen as a manifestation and materialization of his aesthetic sense and of his emotive tensions.

Vass painted a body of artworks, which encompasses wide variety of subject matters. His chosen schematic compositions demonstrate his ease in handling the “styles” he was exposed to and the improvised compositions show immense freedom in creating dramatic pictorial spaces. He unpredictably moves back and forth employing diverse formalistic devices. By and large, the paintings reveal sensuality, where he expressed a sort of repressed mêlée of the material and spiritual insights. For instance, one of his series of paintings titled, ‘Rock and Cloud’ (2005) establishes his ability in dealing with Semi-Abstract sensibilities, while another series, Red-Mood & Blue Mood show a complete headway towards Abstraction. His longing for native themes such as Enki Naidubava (2012) inspired by Nanduri’s folk songs Enki Patalu, Tribal Dance (2013), To the Market (2006) and Dusk (2001) are often predominated by overt stylization.

All these paintings reveal a strong premeditated artistic temperament and sense of proclivity for a Modernist oeuvre.

-Anand Gadapa

(the author is an Art Historian/ Art critic and teaches at College of Fine Arts, JNAFAU, Hyderabad).

Anand Gadapa The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

5 Masked Dancers

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The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

6 Dusk

7 The Rock and cloud

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O

nly a true artist brings the eternal bliss out of his line, color and shape.

Romantic by nature Vass wove a web of reverie, melancholy and fantasy.

His tradition is one of mood rather than style; the half-hidden, half-revealed art with the strange arabesques of dark tonality, feeling, imagination and insight.

Most of his works are subjective, expressing the inner urges of his soul. He works both in representational and abstract modes in art. He has the good connective between the mind eye and hand with spontaneity. He sees and feels not only the people immediately in front of him, their sorrows and joys, but also their universal implications, seeing the one in many, the many in the one.

Spirit of KS VASS

Vass wants his images to be in the twilight zone of ambiguity which is midway between figuration and non-figuration. The figures are there but not fully revealed. It is due to the maximum simplification of the form. There is an air of mystery which takes the viewers to imagine different things in them. The colors breathe freedom. He transforms the perceptible appearances by clever juxtaposition of forms and play of color, tonality, light and shade to visually objectify the hidden reality.

Since childhood Vass lived in isolation which turned him into a dissatisfied individual. In his college days he was attracted to the romantic poetry of Keats, Shelly, Coleridge and Wordsworth. He was greatly influenced by the writings of the French philosophers Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau. He was mainly attracted to Rousseau’s philosophy that all societies were artificial. All accepted forms of political organizations were tyrannical and abusive. Man was born free but he was everywhere in chains. The surroundings of society destroyed the natural simplicity of man, tainted his virtues and were responsible for his suffering and sins. Vass was also influenced by the writings of Henry David Thoreau, the American philosopher of conscience and nature. Thoreau lived his life following his heart and his conscience without seeking praise or approval.

He did not want to spend his life compromising with social conformities such as work, money, family, fame, and success. His essay on “Civil Disobedience” has influenced M.K. Gandhi’s revolutionary movement for the independence of India.

Vass seeks comfort and solace in his own creative and fanciful world. He often tries to escape into an imaginative world of his own creation. He looks before and behind and finds what is not. He feels more than there is to feel and sees more than there is to see. Sick of the world of woes and worries, disappointment and despair, Vass wants to be transported to a dreamland of eternal joy. He longs to escape to the happy world of the Nightingale (a la Keats’s “Ode to Nightingale”) so to say.

Vass has a passion for reading. From very early age he disliked the artificiality of school system of education, blindly reciting the lessons, reproducing them in the examinations and subsequent corporal punishment. His only refuge was library in order to avoid such mockery, disappointment and fear. He absconded from school and became a regular visitor of a nearby library where he liked to read all kinds of children’s books, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Harivamsam. He came across famous Telugu poets and writers. His K Rukmini Devi The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

favourite writers are Gurajada Venkata Apparao, Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Tripuraneni Gopichand, Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao, Srirangam Srinivasa Rao, Chilakamarthi Lakshmi Narasimham, and Paravastu Chinnaya Suri. He also liked to read literary essays in Bharati, stories in Andhra Patrika, Andhra Prabha and stories of Rabindranath Tagore and Saratchandra. He imbibed spirit and morals from Vemana, Sumati, and Neetichandrika. He was greatly fascinated by the adventures of child Sri Krishna. Later in his life Vass studied Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies, Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, the plays of Bernard Shaw, the works of Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Lewis Carroll, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, John Ruskin and many more great books in English literature. Vass also admired the poets of Romantic school - Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, and Coleridge. Spontaneous overflow of powerful passions is the peculiar feature of the Romantic poetry. Keats longs to escape to the happy world of the nightingale. He thinks of three means of escape -- wine, fancy, and death. Very soon he realizes that the means of escape are inadequate to make him forget the grim reality of life. He is aware of the forlornness of human life.

He concludes that we may roam in a dream land of perfect bliss for a short while but we have no choice but to return to the world of painful realities in the end.

Vass absorbed the thoughts of the Romantics and often identified himself with them. Keats’s negative capability; it is not itself - it has no self - it is everything and nothing - it has no character - it enjoys light and shade, it lives in gusto, be it foul or fair, high or low, rich or poor, mean or elevated - it has as much delight in an Iago (the villain of Shakespeare’s Othello), and as an Imogen (Shakespeare’s heroine in Cymbeline). What shocks the virtuous philosopher delights the chameleon poet. In his “Ode to Autumn” Keats reminds us clearly that summer will cease; that life comes full circle and part of that circle is death.

The key idea in Romantic poetry is the concept of the sublime. This term conveys the feelings people experience when they see awesome landscapes, or find themselves in extreme situations which elicit both fear and admiration.

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The Spirit And Works Of

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8 Ideal couple

9 Untitled

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B

orn in Gudiwada, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India, in 1948, K.S. Vass, son of the renowned artist Sri Koppada Venugopalam, received art training from his father and obtained a diploma in painting. He is a postgraduate in History.

Early life

Gudiwada is a small town blessed with temples, a lotus pond with a park, canals and agricultural fields and a serene atmosphere. Here Sri Koppada Venugopalam worked as an art teacher in Municipal High School and set up an art school where he trained hundreds of art students to obtain Government Art Diplomas. Venugopalam was a master in portraiture and landscapes. He worked in both water colors and oils in rapid speed. He received a gold medal from Madras Presidency. He was a self-taught artist.

He adopted western style and technique. His student demonstrations were amazing.

The portraits from life study are marvellous art pieces. They resemble the works of Rembrandt Van Rijn, the Dutch Master and Augustus John the Welsh painter.

Along with his students he used to go out doors to paint landscapes which look like impressionistic works. He travelled and studied ancient historical sites viz Ajanta, Ellora, Nagarjuna Konda, and Hampi and made hundreds of colored sketches from sculpture and architectural remains of the past within fifteen days. He was simple, honest, kind-hearted, highly creative and hard working. Under his guidance many have become accomplished artists and continued his tradition.

In that encouraging environment Vass had spent his childhood days. He was a timid and shy boy and did not mingle easily with others. It is not uncommon that some children are unsure of how to interact socially with others and prefer to be alone risking social rejection. Vass was one such child and therefore he went out doors and started observing nature. According to Vass, the presence of nature makes us feel good. We love nature because we are part of it. We need it for our psychological well being. We love the sight of water, sunrises and sunsets, mountain ranges, clouds, and moonlit nights. A thunderstorm rattles and disturbs everything but we find a rainbow at the end of the storm.

Vass had his own private world. The lotus pond together with the park attached to it, where he spent hours watching the pond, the splashing waters, the round lotus leaves, weeds, flowers, dragon-flies, and colored fish; the trees on the banks of the pond which blushed beautifully; the white cranes catching fish; the silvery clouds floating high silently in the sky. The only things that broke the silence and animated the environment were the sounds made by an occasional monkey or a stray parrot. Monet, the father of impressionism could have envied had he seen this earthly paradise.

During his early years Vass did not grasp anything particular but was exposed to the art world. After retirement his father shifted to Bezwada, another township in the district.

Teen age made him different from other teenagers. School did not satisfy his yearnings.

During the 1960s he showed interest in drawing and painting. Trained along academic lines, he went to write government examinations and obtained a diploma in painting in 1965. He wanted to join the Fine Arts College, but financial economic inadequacy prevented him from doing so and this he later regretted. Abject poverty obliged him to do odd jobs. He gave up painting for survival. Family responsibilities disrupted his career in art. In 1967 he completed Pre-University Course (PUC) and joined as an art teacher in Bala Bharathi High School the following year and served there for 4 years. During these years he joined an evening college and studied B.A. From 1968 to 1976 he attended many art exhibitions and won awards and recognition. From 1972 to 1976 he worked as art exponent in Child Arts International, Hyderabad, founded The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

K Rukmini Devi

by Sri L.S. Babjee. Tribal art training camps were launched in Tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh, sponsored by the government of Andhra Pradesh. Its main objective was to select talented tribal children and send them to Fine Arts Colleges in Hyderabad. In this process, Vass travelled to places like Seetampet, Asifabad, Gummalaxmipuram, Vankidi, Yellundu and Araku Valley.

In 1976, he joined Vijayawada Bottling Company, a Parle soft drink bottling unit as artist to take care of its advertising and publicity matters. He served there for nine long years. In 1978 he married Rukmini Devi and had two children, Madhavi and Venugopal. In 1985 he quit this job and did commercial art works for survival. In 1990, his wife Rukmini Devi started an educational institution named Rosebud Public School in Vijayawada. In the same year Vass joined as Visual art lecturer in Kala Darshini, an art institution run by Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada. He worked there till 1998 and trained many art students. During this time unfortunately Vass could not produce art works of his own.

Vass started painting again only in 2000 and continued up to 2015. He left behind a unique body of works, totally different in treatment and style. His portraits are usually of a woman, with elongated limbs that animate the painting, her position always graceful and languid, her expression one of dreamy melancholy and her skin tones warm and glowing. The detail and clothes are of secondary importance. The simple elegance of line and shape captures the viewer’s attention.

The only real world for Vass was his native Gudiwada, a backward place where he attended school in a temple. He loved his family, traditions, festivals, yet he wanted to escape, to explore the world and experience life. He hated the selfishness and indifference of the people around him, his love/hate affair with his hometown would haunt him throughout life. His solitude gave him a chance to realise himself through art. Academic realism did not inspire him. He found a new way of seeing, in art and in life.

In his formative stage, Vass, re-produced the Renaissance masters; The Fauvist landscapes of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin and the cubist works of Pablo Picasso hung on the walls of his house. He received inspiration from their luminous glow, their plays of light and shade, and their symbolic arabesques. He experimented with many different media and worked in contrasting styles. Everything he did was innovative and beautifully crafted. He never limited himself to one particular style.

Historically the most compelling artists have been those who constantly re-invented and transformed themselves. Some artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Degas were not happy to confine themselves to just one way of working for the rest of their lives, and were therefore willing to take major risks with their work and transform it into something new.

Vass thinks that the process of painting is very laborious which requires much time and effort. The creative artist goes deep down into the soul, infusing life into the lifeless objects of canvas and colors. A work of art is never an object of common everyday use.

It is not a poster giving a message. Art does not preach ethics. If art is beauty, then beauty is truth; if truth is beautiful, then it leads to supreme bliss - ananda. It is wrong to say that modern art cannot be understood easily. We cannot search for a rational meaning in art. The emotions of the artist are to be felt. Art is not only an attempt to create pleasing forms. Such forms may satisfy our sense of beauty. Art is inseparable 21

from life. It is our earnest duty to appreciate and possess art works, to preserve them, and to develop aesthetic sense among ourselves.

The artist’s mission is to make the soul perceptible. Our scientific materialist culture trains us to develop only outer perception. Visionary art encourages the development of inner sight. To find the visionary realm we use the intuitive inner eye. The eye of contemplation, the eye of the soul. All the inspiring ideas we have as artists originate here.

INFLUENCES

Vass is greatly influenced by his father Sri Koppada Venugopalam’s swift and rapid colored chalk sketches, his way of brushing browns, blacks, yellow ochres, reds and blues, resembling or similar to the effects of Rembrandesque lightning in chiaroscuro and his compositions are the techniques of Augustus John, the Welsh painter.

The important works of Hieronymous Bosch, the visionary artist, who portrayed an extraordinary array of grotesque beings, tortured souls in hell and angels guiding the saved to the light of heaven had a huge impact on Vass’ imagination.

Vass studied symbolist manifesto and symbolism, a 19th century art and literary movement and forerunner of modern art, that developed new and abstract means to express psychological truth that behind the physical world lays a spiritual reality.

Symbolists could take the ineffable, such as dreams and visions, and give it form. They lay emphasis on emotions, feelings, ideas and subjectivity rather than realism. The symbolist’s subject matter is characterized by an interest in the occult, the morbid, the dream world, melancholy, evil and death. Vass studied the works of Odilon Redon, Paul Gauguin, Gustave Moreau and Edvard Munch. Symbolism in many ways is a reaction against morality, rationalism, and materialism. Symbolism served as a means to escape.

Vass also drew inspiration from the works of Les Favues (wild beasts), Die Bruke (the bridge) and Der Blue Reiter (The Blue Rider) pioneered by James Ensor and Edward Munch. Expressionism was a 20th century art movement which sought to represent the world solely from a subjective perspective distorting it radically for emotional effect so as to evoke appropriate moods or ideas. It reflects the artist’s state of mind rather than reality of the external world. As in Fauvism, they use symbolic colors and exaggerated imagery, stronger linear effects and harsher outlines and black is their favourite color.

Topics are diverse and they concern the darker, sinister aspects of the human psyche.

Hence, remarkable pictures with dynamic energy, simple rhythms, and sense of space have become Vass’ formative style.

Vass was also attracted to cubist artists, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, and Piet Mondrian. The new art movement called Cubism was conceived as a new way of representing the world. The Cubists used the analytical system in which three dimensional subjects were fragmented and redefined from several different points of view, all at the same time. The major exponents of Cubism were Robert Delaunay, Francis Picabia, Jean Metzinger, Marcel Duchamp and Fernand Leger.

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The Surrealist works of Salvodor Dali, Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, Joan Miro, and Marcel Duchamp attracted the attention of Vass. The Surrealist artists aimed at generating an entirely new set of imagery by unleashing the creative power of the subconscious mind.

Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian painter, was one of the great masters of modern art and the outstanding representative of pure abstract painting that dominated the first half of the 20th century. Kandinsky felt that painting possessed the same power as music and that sign, line and color ought to correspond to the vibrations of the human soul. The idea of music is ubiquitous in Kandinsky’s paintings. His titles, Compositions, Improvisations, and Impressions demonstrate this idea of music. The heart of Kandinsky’s connection to music is found not in his titles or theoretical selfjustifications but in his works of art. Vass was greatly influenced by his works as well.

Vass also keenly observed various Indian modern artists such as Gaganendaranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Mukul Dey, Manishi Dey, Ramkinker Baij, Shanko Chowdary, Dinakar Kowshik, K.G. Subrahmanyan and the progressive artists Francis Newton Souza, S.H. Raja, M.F. Hussain and major artists Akbar Padamsee, Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta, K.H. Ara who changed the idiom of Indian art. He has also observed women artists like B. Prabha, Shanu Lahiri, Arpita Singh, Anjoli Ela Menon, Lalitha Lajmi and Amrita Sher-Gil who have made immense contribution to modern Indian art.

The Indian miniature paintings of various schools like Pala, Orissa, Jain, Mughal, Rajasthani and Nepali have also attracted his attention. He greatly admired the Khalighat paintings and wondered how some simple brush strokes of water color have given birth to these masterpieces, the elegant Bengali folk arts. The Khalighat School is truly modern for its bold simplifications, strong lines, vibrant colors and rhythm.

Another attraction for Vass was Tanjavur, Mysore, Madhubani, and Patachitra of Orissa.

Painting is a visual music and music is auditory art. Indian classical music, which is of two major styles, Carnatic and Hindusthani, had a profound effect on K.S. Vass.

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Many new changes have occurred in the present century. Hard-edge painting, geometric abstraction, appropriation, hyperrealism, photorealism, expressionism, minimalism, lyrical abstraction, pop art, op art, abstract expressionism, color field painting, neo expressionism, collage, inter-media painting, and assemblage painting are a few of the current directions in painting in the 21st century.

VASS’ VISION

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls (Pablo Picasso).

Meaningful life depends on the experience of values. Perhaps only art can express the values. The artist’s job is not to solve the day-to-day problems. There are others to deal with such problems. The job of the artist is to create awareness of the values of truth, beauty and spiritual enlightenment.

A schism has always existed between the artist and the society. Popular indifference to the arts forced certain artists to work out their own salvation outside the narrow field of the public taste. Under the twin pressures of indifference and misunderstanding, many artists either gave up art or withdrew from the main stream of life and cultivated their private gardens in relative isolation. Forced into spiritual isolation many painters turned their eyes inward in melancholy introspection.

“I believe in subconscious as the essential source of art. Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye … it also includes the inner pictures of the soul,” says Edvard Munch.

A picture can speak for itself and whatever it says to the viewer is itself the right message. That is all. “I am a lover of nature and beauty, and beauty never passes into nothingness. I create works to satisfy my inner self. Art is self-sufficient and has no aim beyond its own perfection, its end is simply to exist and to be beautiful. Art for art’s sake. And life is for art’s sake,” says Vass.

K Rukmini Devi The Spirit And Works Of

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12 Raag Hindola

27

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

13 The Rock and cloud

14 Horses

29

The Spirit And Works Of

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15 Motherhood

16 Sleeping Beauty

31

The Spirit And Works Of

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17 Seated Woman

18 Untitled

33

The Spirit And Works Of

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19 Shadowy figures

20 Harmony in green and black

35

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21 Composition

22 Veiled Lady

37

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23 Maid and Mask

24 Red, brown, and black

39

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25 Blue, black and red

26 Primrose

41

The Spirit And Works Of

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27 Water Nymph, fish, and dolphin

28 Ponder

43

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29 Tranquility

30 Seated woman

45

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31 Untitled

32 Damsel

47

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33 Water Nymph

34 Hair dressing

49

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35 Girl with white feather

36 Blue mood

51

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37 Maid

38 Raag Hindola

53

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39 Island

40 Red mood

55

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41 Mousam

42 Music lover

57

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43 Lady with the Red bird

44 Music

59

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45 Violin

46 Console

61

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47 Leisure

48 Out cast

63

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49 Dialogue

50 Twilight

65

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51 Maid

52 Damsel

67

The Spirit And Works Of

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53 Portrait of a girl

54 Lost in nature

69

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55 Chatting

56 Enki Naidubava

71

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57 Enki-Naidu bava

58 Natakam or Puppet show

73

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59 Looking Glass

60 Girl and peacock

75

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61 Source of life

62 Concert

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63 Water Pitcher

64 Sea Nymph

79

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65 Green

66 Dream - 1

81

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67 Dream - 2

68 Horses

83

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69 At rest

70 Leisure

85

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71 Violinist

72 Homeward bound

87

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73 Windy day

74 Rainy day

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75 Dream

76 Mother

91

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77 Mother and child

78 Couple

93

1

Portrait of Smt.K.Rukmini Devi (wife of K.S.Vass)

| Water color on paper | 18’’x24’’ | Year

2007.

The portrait is drawn from life using yellow, brown, red and black, the figure is arranged in triangular shape giving the portrait strength and elegance.

2

Madhavi Latha at seven

A portrait painting of Madhavi Latha, daughter of K.S.Vass was painted from life on her 7th birthday.

| Oil on canvas | 20’’ x 30’’ | Year 1985.

3

Sandhya raga

There is dazzling light in the western sky with blazing colors…. purples, pinks, oranges, vibrant reds, flaming yellows……!!! There is also brilliant light in the east, south and north equally. The houses, trees, roads, people, all living and non-living things are immersed deeply in the light. The Sandhya Raga - The Dusk added color to life. The textural values are created by using pallet knife.

| Mixed media on canvas | 38’’ x 40’’ | Year 2007.

4

The Rock and cloud

Vass painted ‘The Rock and Cloud’ series, in order to compare and contrast the feminine nature with that of masculine. The feminine qualities of flexibility, compassion, kindness, graciousness, expressiveness, simplicity and beauty are attributed to the cloud and the rock represents the masculine traits of self-reliance, independence, aggressiveness, dominance , ambitious and a logical worldly view.

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2004.

5

Masked Dancers

The masked dancers are a series of works created to show up the spiritual hollowness and decadence of the times. They are the artists’ critique of contemporary society. They show up the artificiality of the society and its institutions and social dogmas. Masked dancers hide their faces wearing smiles or scornful looks apparently not to have any own conscience. The rhythmic line, blending of colours, expressive faces and limbs created a dream like atmosphere. The dynamic composition, the use of reddish browns and whites give a serene environment.

6 Dusk

| Oil on canvas | 33’’ x 37’’ | Year 1999.

| Oil on Canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2000.

Vass painted ‘The Rock and Cloud’ series, in order to compare and contrast the feminine nature with that of masculine. The feminine qualities of flexibility, compassion, kindness, graciousness, expressiveness, simplicity and beauty are attributed to the cloud and the rock represents the masculine traits of self-reliance, independence, aggressiveness, dominance , ambitious and a logical worldly view.

7

The Rock and cloud

When scattered clouds are resting on the bosoms of hills, it seems as if one might climb into heavenly region, earth being so intermixed with sky, and gradually transformed into it.

-Nathanial Hawthorne

8

Ideal couple

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2004.

| Water colour on paper | 10’’ x 12’’ | Year 2004.

Red, green, blue and black were used with sharp out line. The expression on their faces is calm and sober. The movement of their hands would give some message.

9 Untitled

| Acrylic on Canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2012.

Vass has given an art demonstration for school and college children at the Andhra Academy of Arts, Vijayawada on figurative exoressionism.

10

The Rock and cloud

See yonder little cloud, that, borne so tenderly by the wind, floats aloft fast away over the snowy peaks !

- Longfellow

11

The Rock and cloud

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2004.

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2004.

O cloud, white bird of heaven, where are you going? Stay for a while, pour cool water because I can no longer bear sun’s heat. Please be with me. I will give you the sweet honey and scented flowers. O white winged fairy…… don’t go away.

Yours Rock.

12

Raag Hindola

A RAAGA literally means, color, line and also beauty, melody, used in Indian classical music. Raaga has its own mood such as tranquility, devotion, eroticism, loneliness, pathos, heroism etc. The Raag Hindola is a beautiful raga which moves the hearts of audience. The singer on the dais serves a beautiful composition to an artist.

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

| Oil on masonate | 38’’ x 25’’ | Year 2008.

13

The Rock and cloud

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2004.

O it is pleasant, with a heart at ease. Just after sunset, or by moonlight skies, to make the shifting clouds be what you please.

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers, from the seas and the streams; I bear light shade for the leaves when laid in their noon day dreams.

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

14 Horses | Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2008.

Horses have appeared in works of art throughout history. Automatically the structure of a horse best fits into any creative painting. Horses are best sources of inspiration to painters.

15 Motherhood

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2004.

Motherhood is the main and important event in any women’s life. She feels that her life’s ambition is fulfilled.

There are many responsibilities awaiting . The use of grayish blacks and whites elevated the figure from dark background. The woman is elegantly posed and her eyes are dreaming.

16

Sleeping Beauty

The diagonal composition and the use of reds, browns and blacks in this painting depicted undisturbed sleep, the serenity and quietness of the environment.

| Oil on canvas | 28’’ x 30’’ | Year 2006.

17

Seated Woman

The sensitive feelings of woman are captured in this work. Her raised arms show her deplorable condition and helplessness. These moods are captured by juxtaposing reddish orange, yellow, brown and black. The triangular placement of the figure adds beauty to the painting.

18 Untitled

| Painting on glass | 18’’ x 28’’ | Year

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 40’’ | Year 2006.

This art work creates a mood and a feeling, the bright blue red and black colours are harmoniously blended.

The arrangement of figure in a triangle, and space created around it is amazing.

19

Shadowy figures

Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings- always darker, emptier and simple.

| Oil on canvas | 18’ x 28’’ | Year 2008.

-Friedrich Nietzsche

20

Harmony in green and black

A women is presented in one of her many moods. The use of green and black attained elegance.

21 Composition

| Water colour on paper | 16’’ x 20’’ | Year 2008.

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 24’’ | Year 2006.

The distorted images of people with all their movements amidst the orange horizon gives a beautiful view.

The figures are merged into the background and foreground and the dark grays are redistributed around the figures. The colors blend harmoniously in the picture.

22

Veiled Lady

A sense of strong feeling is created while Vass used brilliant red, yellow and white and the placement of figure which occupied middle part of the canvas, the spontaneity ,the purity of colour made this painting beautiful.

| Acrylic on canvas | 18’’ x 24’’ | Year 2007.

23

Maid and Mask

An expressive painting. Blue is dominating colour followed by black and pink. The pitcher symbolizes the burden of life and the mask servitude.

| Acrylic on canvas | 18’’ x 22’’ | Year 2008.

24

Red, brown, and black

Another example of figurative expressionism. The harmonious blending of colours which create mood in this work.

| Acrylic on canvas | 16’’ x 22’’ | Year 2008.

25

Blue, black and red

An expressive painting contrasted with blue, black and red. The arrangement of figure and intermixture of color elevated deep feeling.

| Acrylic on canvas | 16’’ x 22’’ | Year 2008.

95

26 Primrose

| Acrylic on canvas | 16’’ x 22’’ | Year 2008.

There is close relationship between flowers and women. The feminine beauty and fragrance go hand in hand.

In spite of her hardships she is alive and beautiful. Woman is compared to delicacy of a flower. In this painting the mood is created.

27

Water Nymph, fish, and dolphin

Water Nymph is a mythological creature whereas Fish and Dolphin are real things in water which belong to nature. The figures in the painting are more expressive and the moving water which create eerie feeling.

| Acrylic on canvas | 16’’ x 22’’ | Year 2000.

28 Ponder | Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2007.

Majority of women in rural India live a life of dependency that does not possess any self - identity. Women have been considered as goddesses . But more goddesses are being killed in womb, burnt at work places and streets, raped, abducted, exploited and discriminated. When do women get real freedom and peace?? The woman in this painting keeps her hands on her head shows that she is in depressive condition. This mood is created by positioning the figure in the middle and contrasting it by using blues and blacks.

29 Tranquility | Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2007.

It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst

of those things and still be calm in your heart. The maid is ,actively playing an musical instrument, the upright posture shows her strength and determination. The blues, greens and blacks elevated a strong sense of feeling.

30

Seated woman

The seated figure is seen removing water droplets from her hair after bath. The yellow ocher body tint is contrasted against strong reddish browns and blacks. The colours are loosely applied. The delicate flesh tints are achieved by mixing yellow ocher, brown and white.

31 Untitled

| Oil on canvas | 23’’ x 29’’ | Year 2008.

The image of a girl is beautifully painted with red and black supplemented with white is an example of figurative expressionism.

32 Damsel

| Oil on canvas | 18’’ x 30’’ | Year 2007.

| Oil on canvas | 23’’x 29’’ | Year 2008.

The Damsel is beautifully carved with red background and blue back torso with expressive countenance. A strong feeling is created.

33

Water Nymph

Water nymphs are imaginary and fantastic subjects that can be depicted in paintings and artworks. They force the on lookers to dream world.

34

Hair dressing

| Oil on canvas | 22’’ x 36’’ | Year 2008.

| Oil on canvas | 23’’ x 30’’ | Year 2008.

Indian women look beautiful while they comb their hair, their hands move all around their heads and hair.

Certainly the sight is a good composition for any artist to create. Hair frames a woman’s face. It takes much time and attention to maintain hair-style. A woman wants to look attractive, hence hair dressing. The beauty of a woman’s face is defined based on her hair.

35

Girl with white feather

“I am thirteen now. When I was little, I used to believe in angels, the good of the world, the fairy-tales; everything moved me…..brilliant mornings, lazy afternoons and fearful nights. I asked myself thousands of silly questions but got no answers. Sometimes I felt I was in clutches and sometimes I felt liberated”.

36

Blue mood

Colors are often associated with moods. The cool colors . . . green, blue and purple have psychological effect of making us feel cool. Blue has a restful and serene mood. It also can be cold like ice or calm like a lake.

Colors give us the language we need to communicate our feelings artistically.

37 Maid

The Spirit And Works Of

| Oil on canvas | 22’’ x 36’’ | Year 2008.

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2008.

| Oil on canvas | 22’’ x 30’’ | Year 2007.

Maids generally attend household duties like cooking, washing, cleaning the house and taking care of children.

A virgin maid serves a good model for an artist.

K.S.Vass

38 Musicians

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2009.

Indian classical musicians and singers have played a great role in popularizing Indian music all over the world.

They have enriched the world of music and enthralled the audiences with their masterful artistry. Their soulful rendition has brought solace to many hearts. It is very interesting to depict them on canvas.

39 Island

| Water colour on paper | 14’’ x 24’’ | Year 2010.

A rapid water colour sketch is executed within minutes to create space and atmosphere. The blues and blacks are blended to create mood.

40

Red mood

There are several reasons why colors are able to influence how we feel. You have an innate reaction to color.

When you look at red, it does increase your heart rate. It is a stimulating color. This goes back to cavemen days of fire and danger and alarm.

-Leslie Harrington

41

Mousam (season)

| Acrylic on canvas | 24’’ x 30’’ | Year 2010.

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2011.

If we had no winter, the spring wouldn’t be so pleasant. If we had not known adversity, we wouldn’t experience the sweetness of prosperity. “Good Seasons start with good beginnings” -Sparky Anderson.

42

Music lover

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2011.

People truly appreciate music. They understand that music is life. “If music is the food of love, play on, give me excess of it , that surfeiting, the appetite may sicken and so die”.

-William Shakespeare

43

Lady with the Red bird

“All women are beautiful, regardless of their looks. You just need to touch them with some respect and appreciation for their inner beauty and you will be rewarded with joy. Women are God’s greatest gift to man, we should cherish and protect them”.

- Women Quotes.

44

Music, food of love

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2011.

Violin is a stringed instrument used is musical concerts. Violin player serves as a good composition for a painting. It looks like a beautiful woman in the hands of its player, playing elegantly.

46 Console

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2011.

Comfort at a time of grief or disappointment. You broke my heart, but now I am going to break some of yours. I wish I could collect all my tears, from the times you have made me cry and drown you in them.

47 Leisure

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2011.

“If music be the food of love, play on” Shakespeare says in his Twelfth Night .Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us. A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musician paints pictures on silence.

-Leopold Stokowski

45 Violin

| Oil on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2011.

| Acrylic on canvas | 38’’ x 40’’ | Year 2011.

After hectic household work women in villages sit leisurely together and talk. They talk for talking sake without any practical purposes. Usually they talk about domestic problems, events that occurred around their village.

These scenes will best serve for composition for paintings.

48

Out cast

A woman with unwanted pregnancy before marriage is looked down by the society. She is made to feel guilty for possessing an unwanted child. These reactions lead to depression and isolation.

| Acrylic on canvas | 38’’ x 40’’ | Year 2011.

49 Dialogue

50 Twilight

| Acrylic on canvas | 38’’ x 40’’ | Year 2011.

Two women sat together closely, exchanged their ideas. They started talking about their day-to-day events of life and of marriages, festivals, children, cattle, crops etc; It is always a lovely scene to depict. | Oil on canvas | 18’’ x 24’’ | Year 2011.

The seated girl leaned on a chair is still deeply in contemplation. She is looking for a way to find out reasonable solution to her dilemma. The darkness is descending slowly. What will happen in the next moment nobody knows. The reds and blacks create an airy atmosphere.

97

51 Maid

| Acrylic on canvas | 18’’ x 24’’ | Year 2011.

The maid is in her bridal attire. She is going to be wedded soon. Her happiest feelings are conveyed in this picture. She thinks her future will be bright and beautiful. The red, brown, black combination created mood in the picture.

52 Damsel

| Oil on canvas | 23’’ x 29’’ | Year 2011.

Damsel in distress is a Classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is a lady facing a serious problem awaiting a hero to achieve her rescue.

53

Portrait of a girl

A portrait is an artistic representation of a person to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. Portraits are often more than likeness of people. At their best they are filled with clues about historical and cultural context, about the artist’s interests and abilities and about the person(s) in the portrait.

It is the picture of an young Indian girl. She is in pensive mood, like any other Indian girl before marriage. She is worrying about the thought of her marriage. After wedding she has to go to her husband’s home, which is another place where she has to fulfill the expectations of her husband and her in- laws. In the process, she looses the opportunity to learn and make friends and freedom.

| Oil on canvas | 23’’ x 29’’ | Year 2011.

54

Lost in nature

“Is the spring coming?” he said “What is it like?” “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine . . . . . .”

- Frances Hodgson Burnesh (The Secret Garden)

55 Chatting

| Oil on canvas | 23’’ x 32’’ | Year 2012.

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2012.

It is a captivating rural scene in India where women, after their domestic work sit leisurely and chat over their day-to-day issues; past incidents and future events. Rural women are less educated but have a kind heart.

They have a tougher life as their rights are not in their hands.

56

Enki Naidubava

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 40’’ | Year 2012.

Enki-Naidubava is a symbol for pure love and subject matter for creative painting. “I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever” -Rabindranath Tagore.

57

Enki-Naidu bava

The set of romantic poems ‘Yenki Patalu’ written by Nanduri Venkata Subbarao (1895 - 1957) was a famous telugu poet. ‘Enki’ and ‘Naidu Bava’ are the main characters of the Enki Patalu. Enki is a washer-woman who is in deep love with Naidu Bava. The central theme of poems is the love and romance between them.

58

Natakam or Puppet show

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year-2012.

| Acrylic on canvas | 38’’ x 40’’ | Year 2010.

In India, puppetry was practiced from ancient times. It is popular form of theatre. The puppets are a good subject matter for creative artists.

59

Looking Glass

Cosmetology and the art of makeup is an important practice for women in India. They decorate tilaka on their fore heads; women with these decorations look more attractive and are a good subject matter for poets and artists.

| Oil on canvas | 23’’ x 32’’ | Year 2012.

60

Girl and peacock

According to the situation of lovers, love is of two kinds; love in separation and love in union. Which are depicted in Kangra valley ( hills of Punjab, India) paintings. Love-sick heroines who seek relief from the pangs of separation are shown playing with the black buck, the peacock, the swan etc; these are the symbols of the lover.

| Oil on canvas | 23’’x 32’’ | Year 2012.

61

Source of life

The source of all life and knowledge is in man and woman, and the source of all living is in the interchange and the meeting and mingling of these two; man-life and woman- life, man- knowledge and women- knowledge, man- being and women- being.

- D.H. Lawrence ( English Writer)

| Acrylic on canvas | 23’’ x 32’’ | Year 2012.

62

Concert

Listening to live music is one of the most pleasurable experiences available to human beings. It is fun, romantic and spiritual listening to music. “Music is the harmonious voice of creation, an echo of invisible world”

K.S.Vass

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2013.

The Spirit And Works Of

- Giuseppe Mazzini

63

Water Pitcher

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 40’’ | Year 2013.

Indian rural women walk miles together to fetch and carry water for their families. Women carrying the pitchers on their heads, their colorful dresses, their movements in the bright day light serve as a good composition for paintings.

64

Sea Nymph

A sea nymph is one of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris in Greek Mythology. The names of sea nymphs were numerous; the most famous are Sirens and the Mermaids. They are charming maidens, sometimes lightly clothed and sometimes naked, often riding on dolphins and tritons. These beautiful mythological goddesses always fascinated me to paint them. In modern Greek folklore, the term Neveid has come to be used for all nymphs, fairies or mermaids or nymphs of the sea.

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2014.

65

Green, pink and black

Juxtaposition of green, pink along with black gives a beautiful visual effect. It is very interesting to look at such type of paintings.

66 Dream

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 36’’ | Year 2104.

| Acrylic on canvas | 38’’ x 40’’ | Year 2014.

This painting is an exploration of the dream and unconsciousness as a valid form of reality, inspired by Sigmund Freud’s writings. It laid emphasis on the mysterious, marvelous, mythological aspects of dream.

67

Dream 2

You cannot forget certain dreams. They remain with you for years as if you dreamt them last night. When you wake-up from such a dream you feel that you had a life changing experience.

68

Horses

| Acrylic on canvas | 38’’ x 40’’ | Year 2014.

| Acrylic on canvas | 19’’ x 24’’ | Year 2014.

Horses serve as good composition in drawing and painting. A horse is an auspicious symbol for the Hindus to worship. The power of horses is depicted in this work.

69 At rest |

Acrylic on canvas | 18’’ x 22’’ | Year-2104.

The blue-black combination and the arrangement of figures give a cool effect.

70

Leisure

The women have completed their routine domestic work and sat closely and began talking on different issues.

The red, orange and brown are used to create dramatic effect in the painting.

| Acrylic on canvas | 12’’ x 14’’ | Year 2104.

71

Violinist

Brown, black and white are used to create monotone in the painting which created a sense of beauty in the painting.

72

Homeward bound

| Water colour on paper | 12’’ x 16’’ | Year 2014.

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 40’’ | Year 2015.

Rural Womenfolk in India, by nature, are pure, innocent and beautiful. The women of low-income groups toil from dawn to dusk to earn bread for their families. They work in the fields, farms, collect driftwood for fuel from waste lands, sell milk and vegetables in the markets etc. These daily life activities inspired Vass to paint pictures of the kind. The serene atmospheric background and the cloth colors reflect the same.

73

Windy day

| Acrylic on canvas | 28’’ x 40’’ | Year 2016.

It is a windy day. It is blowing hard. The wind blew the women’s veil off. The trees are bending over. The people cannot walk. They wait for the wind to go away. The blowing windy atmosphere is captured in this painting.

74

Rainy day

The rain began again. It fell heavily, easily, with no meaning or intention but the fulfillment of its own nature, which was to fall and fall.

- Helen Garner

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 40’’ | Year 2016.

People stepped outside and felt the wind and rain on their faces.

75 Dream

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 40’’ | Year 2016.

In this surrealistic painting the dream is given shape using violets, pinks, and blacks defined by a strong outline.

The horses and a fairy create a dream like atmosphere.

99

76

Mother

| Acrylic on canvas | 28’’ x 40’’ | Year 2016.

A mother contributes her whole life to her family. she provides the loving care and support needed by growing children. An ideal living environment that a mother can provide for her children is a warm caring home. An ideal mother is presented in this panel.

77

Mother and child

The most precious jewels you will ever have around your neck are the arms of your children.

- Havilah Lusk

Any mother could confront any problem to take care of her children. This love of mother towards her child is beautifully depicted in this painting.

| Acrylic on canvas | 23’’ x 32’’ | Year 2016.

78

Couple

The ideal couples consider each other their ‘best friend.’ Couples who stay together should admire and respect each other’s point of view. The ideal couples are presented in this panel using oranges, blues and blacks perfectly.

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 40’’ | Year 2016.

Fist Spread

Dancers

A powerful expression is achieved in this work. The expressive use of colour which is not determined by form.

Colour is used to create sensation. It reflects the artist’s subjective inner vision.

| Acrylic on canvas | 28’’ x 40’’ | Year-2016.

Last Spread

Bathers

| Acrylic on canvas | 30’’ x 40’’ | Year 2016.

Persons swimming or spending time in the water are called bathers. Hindus believe that bathing in sacred rivers is auspicious. The bright light is focused on the bathers, the red sky indicates the morning time, the blue denotes moving river there is fast action. All the colours used to capture the moment.

REFERENCES 1. John Keats and Negative capability - Article by Stephen Hebron, British Library.

9. Living with Art

- Rita Gilbert.

2. What is Visionary Art?

By Alex Grey

10. Style and manner in Art, A Definition

- F. Wellington Ruckstuhl.

3. Symbolism - Wikipedia _ the free encyclopedia.

11. Artists Biography

- Renee Phillips

4. Symbolism - The Art Story - Modern art Insight.

12. Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art

- A. Wiley Brand.

5. Fauvism - The Art Story - Modern Art Insight.

13. Trends in Modern Indian Art

- Bhattacharya Sunikumar

6. Expressionism - MOMA Learning, MOMA Research and Development.

14. A State in Modernity

- a brief history of Modern Indian art.

7. Cubism - Art Movements - Visual Arts Encyclopedia 8. Surrealism Art Movement

- Visual Arts Encyclopedia.

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

15. Manifestations

- Rabina Karode 16. Artist gallery

- Pithawala

K.S.VASS Birth:

28th Jan,1948.

State:

Andhra Pradesh

Country: India Education:

Govt. Technical Examination (Painting Diploma) Madras.

M.A.(History) Art Teaching:

Worked as an Art exponent in Child Art’s International, Hyderabad

Worked as Art Lecturer at Kala Dharshini, Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada.

Selected Exhibitions 1968: Displayed in Annual Art Exhibition A.P Lalitkala academy HYD., 1968: Highly commended Award Chitra Kala Parishad, Visakapatnam.

1968: Award:

L.I.C Employees Fine Arts Association, Machilipatnam, A.P.

1968: Award:

Andhra Academy of Arts Vijayawada.

1969: Purchase Award A.P Lalitkala Academy HYD., 1969: Award : Damerla Ramarao Art Gallery A.P. 1969:

Commended Andhra Academy of arts Vijayawada.

1971: Outstanding merit award Andhra Academy of arts Vijayawada.

1972: Award : Damerla Ramarao Art Gallery A.P. 1975: One man show Nehru Bala Bhavan, Hyderabad.

1975: Award:

Andhra Academy of Arts, Vijayawada.

1976: Award :

Chitra Kala Samsad, Machilipatnam, A.P.

1976: Award:

Andhra Academy of Arts, Vijayawada.

2002: Displayed at Potti Sri Ramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad.

2003: Displayed at Government of Cultural Affairs, Hyderabad.

2007: One man show in Vijayawada.

2008: One man show at Chitramayee Government Art Gallery Hyderabad, A.P 2008: One man show at I.C.C.R Art Gallery, KalaBhavan, Hyaderabad A.P. 2012:

Group show ‘All India Contemporary Art Exhibition’, Wisdom Art Society, New Delhi.

2013:

Solo Art Exhibition at ‘Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad’.

2013:

Group Show at Tirupati Telugu Mahasabhalu.

2014:

Group Show at I.C.C.R Art Gallery, Kalabhavan, Hydrabad.

101

The idea behind publishing this book is, it might serve as a reference book for art lovers and art students. The biography is only a brief account of my life which moulded me as an artist. My acquaintance with people (artists and non- artists) are very limited because I prefer solitude more than anything else. In the process of writing, some important events and persons might have got slipped away.

I’m influenced greatly by my father Sri Koppada Venugopalam (1900-1973), though worked in a Municipal High School, Gudivada as an art teacher, for his livelihood, his main concern was to teach art to his students to get Govt. Art Diplomas to join as teachers in schools and colleges. He was successful in his mission. He was the best portrait and landscape artist. For his memorable service to art, The Krishna and Guntur District Art Teachers Association presented him the title “Chitrakala Prapoorna” in his felicitation function at Gudivada in 1950.

Well, we could not find Venugopalam’s works now. Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin left behind their works and said adieu. But Venugopalam has produced many great paintings which were unfortunately not preserved. This great artist who created history was not recognized by the then art historians.

In 1961, ‘The Andhra Academy of Arts,’ was established by Sri Narla Venkateswara Rao, Sri Suryadevara Sanjeevadev, Sri M.S. Moorthy and Sri Koppada Venugopalam with many of his students. The Academy conducted seminars on art, art symposiums, study art tours, children’s art competitions, and annual juried art exhibitions to remote art in coastal districts.

Sri Narla Venkateswara Rao who is a Telugu language writer, journalist and politician from A.P. was twice a Rajyasabha member. He was very famous for his editorial writing in Andhraprabha. He was a restless fighter against injustice in society and politics. He faced the wrath of Chief Misters of Andhra Pradesh.

Such dynamic personality acted as the president of, ‘The Andhra Academy of Arts’, where Suryadevara Sanjeevadev acted as Vice-president, Sri M.S. Moorthy as secretary and Sri Koppada Venugopalam as joint secretary. The Andhra academy of arts was successfully and efficiently administered. Since I was very young then, I did not have any closeness with Sri V.R. Narla.

Another important person I met in my life was Suryadevara Sanjeevadev. The Andhra University honored him with D.litt., honorary degree. He was an artist, painter, photographer, writer in Telugu and English. He was a multi-faceted genius. Nature was his subject. I interviewed him in Uvavani, AIR programme on modern trends in art in the year 1979. He continues to live through letters, literature and colorful paintings.

My association with Sri M.S.Moorthy is a memorable one. One of the founder members of Andhra academy of arts, Vijayawada. He was the AIR’s staff member.

As a secretary of the academy, he worked vigorously to promote art, inspired and influenced the young artists of the region. He produced a large body of art works.

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

Snapped Memories

Another very important person in my life is Dr. B.A. Reddy, who is a disciple of Sri Koppada Venugopalam. He worked in Golkonda Kendriya Vidhyala as an Art Master. His service is not only limited to school children but has extended to the children of national and international level by establishing Young Envoys International. Inspired by Gandhiji’s ideals, he conducted art competition for children at national level. Touring exhibitions being organized in the name of Bapu Darshan. He started a quarterly art magazine called “Art Drive” to present and inform about art, art events, art news, to the art lovers and artists.

Mrs.B.Padma Reddy, his daughter, helped him in his great work. Since 2000, Sri B.A.Reddy became my close associate and mentor. He guided me in many art matters. He is the one who has initiated me to publish this book.

Padma Sri Dr. S. V. Rama Rao, eminent artist, who is one of my father’s students has also helped me in my art career.

Sri Rasa Velu who has worked as Director of Central Government Weavers’ Centre in Vijayawada, is a recipient of Lalitha Kala National Academy’s prestigious award for painting. He is a friend of mine who gave me valuable suggestions in my art career.

Smt.K.Rukmini Devi entered into my life in 18-03-1978 as my wife and care taker of my home. Since her childhood, she adopted qualities of openmindedness, charity and kindness. She always supported me and she is with me in my art career. I’m proud of her being my life’s partner.

I had close association with Fr. George, Fr. Sebastian and Fr. Ravi of Andhra Loyola College; Sri Paramananda Pillai and Mrs. Dayakshi Anand; Sri Dasari Narayana Sastry; Sri Vanamali Jagannadha Rao; Sri. P. Syamala Rao; Sri Maruthi Venkateswarulu; Sri J. Rajasekhara Sarma; Mr. John and Mrs. Roshini; Mr. N. Kamalakar; Mr. P. Hemanth Kumar; Mr. G. Bheema Sankar; Mr. K.S. Rakesh; Mr. G. Mahindra; Mr. Mallik; Mr. Koppada Chaitanya; and Mr. Koppada Ram Gopal.

This long life of mine which has flown away in a jiffy had left deep impressions of pain and pleasure.

K.S.Vass

103

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass

Bathers - Last spread

7

“A picture can speak for itself and whatever it says to the viewer is itself the right message. That is all. “I am a lover of nature and beauty, and beauty never passes into nothingness. I create works to satisfy my inner self. Art is self-sufficient and has no aim beyond its own perfection, its end is simply to exist and to be beautiful. Art for art’s sake. And life is for art’s sake.”

- K.S.Vass

Mr.Vass works are an accomplishment of a continuous and conscientious thinking and unbridled belief in the ethos of his own ideology and more importantly regular association with a diverse genre of material . Art has been a compulsion that is destined to happen to him.

- B.Padma Reddy

Koppada.S.Vass is one such artist whose artworks may be termed as an integration of image, imaginary and imagination, which substantiates intellectual engagement of the maker with its making and meaning. As a visual artist, he tends to construct and reconstruct the known and an own narrative to achieve aesthetic beauty, many a times, a subjective reading or a ‘sahridaya’ is all that is needed to re-interpret it.

- Anand Gadapa

Vass wants his images to be in the twilight zone of ambiguity which is midway between figuration and non-figuration. The figures are there but not fully revealed. It is due to the maximum simplification of the form. There is an air of mystery which takes the viewers to imagine different things in them.

The colors breathe freedom. He transforms the perceptible appearances by clever juxtaposition of forms and play of color, tonality, light and shade to visually objectify the hidden reality.

- K. Rukmini Devi

New Art Wave Studio: 12-196, Sri Lakshmi Nagar Colony, Badangpet, Saroornagar Mandal, Rangareddy Dt., Hyderabad-500 058, TS, India. e: k.s.vass1@gmail.com | m: 92473 67197, 92928 00887

The Spirit And Works Of

K.S.Vass