THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The perfect symphony that the paintings remind you of is a second note of the companionship shared by their creators, C D Dileep and A Hariharan. At their eighth joint exhibition, which opened at the Museum Auditorium here on Tuesday, the duo have some of the largest mural paintings ever put up for an exhibition in the state. The huge 8x8 feet ‘Pradosha Nrutham’ depicting the ‘ananda nadanam’ of Lord Shiva they painted together, takes the centre stage at the exhibition. “We begin with a sketch of the painting to be made and then one of us makes the central figures on the canvas. The other does the embellishments and then it is a journey extending towards both ends, and we walk the distance together,” Dileep says while Hariharan gazes into our eyes, wondering whether we are able to fathom the flawless understanding they share. The two forged a hearty camaraderie as classmates at the Institute of Mural Painting of Guruvayur Devaswom. When they passed out in 2005, the onus of carving a niche in the wilderness of art world resting heavily on them, their friendship became the magic lamp that showed the way. The encouraging response to the joint exhibition they had done during the college days in 2003 prompted them to hold more of such. “We are keen to take it all across Kerala and plan to do one exhibition each in every district. In the last five years, we conducted eight exhibitions in places like Kannur, Kasargod, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Thrissur and one in Bangalore,” says Hariharan. The duo have earned a name as an authentic source for graceful murals, done in the traditional style as well as in the experimental genre. Swastik Mural Paintings, run by them in Guruvayur, is now a sought-after destination for mural lovers. The Ganesh series inspired by the medieval text ‘Ganesh Purana’ is now in the personal collection of the business house that owns the Vinayaka Auditorium in Kadavanthra, Kochi. The series done in folk style, depicting ordinary men and women in rustic backdrops as against the traditional images of gods and goddesses, has also been bought by a Kochi-based collector. Among the major projects commissioned to the them, Hariharan and Dileep are particularly proud about the murals based on Kerala culture done on the walls of Ezhimala Naval Academy, the mural at the Pattom branch of SBI depicting the famed boat race of Kerala and the Ganesha murals done in Soorya Krishnamorthy’s home. All the six large murals, displayed at the ongoing exhibition, including ‘Pradosha Nrutham, which has been done outside the stipulated circle in traditional images of the dance, ‘Parvathy Chamayam’, and ‘Pattabhishekam’ have already been collected. The exhibition, organised by Sankamitra, a city-based fine arts society, will conclude on November 7.
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