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Biju P Mathew

Biju P Mathew ,works in contemporary style. Biju  Mathew, artist from Kerala  who’s work would best be described as contemporary expressionism, which means artists who communicate personal vision by distorting color, shape, surface, or space in their work.

He is in young breed of painter who took seriously nature as the subjects and covered large areas  includes landscapes, nature, still-life, figurative paintings and creative works in contemporary style.  Most of the paintings are acrylic paintings done in realistic oil painting style, either on acid free paper or on canvas.  There are also works in watercolor, graphite pencil, charcoal pencil, colored pencil, pastels and crayons.

Mr.Biju  Mathew,  artist from Kerala   talks to Sreeni K.R about her role, vision and future aspects of Paintings.

When you took painting seriously?

I had started painting from an early age.  But I took painting seriously (which means, I thought of selling my paintings) only around 2000.

You are in a young breed of painter who took seriously nature as the subjects? What inspires to do so?

Nature always fascinates me.  I believe that the joy of life lies in simple pleasures.  There is no meaning in waiting for a grandiose experience.  You don’t need to travel far and wide to find beauty.  It can be found even in your backyard.  The fact is, it is not ‘out’ there.  It is ‘in’ there.  What an artist like me tries to do is to help others discover this beauty by making them aware of a proper use of their own imaginative mind.  Joseph Addison has said that ‘we find the works of Nature still more pleasant, the more they resemble those of art’, meaning, art is something more than the imitation of Nature.  I like to be termed as a Nature Artist, but by Nature, I do not merely mean flowers, trees, birds and beautiful landscape.  Nature, for me, is a wider concept.

Do you think our visual culture seems to have stopped after Ravi Varma?

No.  Visual culture doesn’t stop.  It changes.  Some people like those changes, some people don’t.  I have a very eclectic view of art.  It is not necessary to term me as an artist belonging to the RaviVarmaSchool of painting, considering the realistic nature of some of my paintings.  I appreciate all the different tastes in visual culture.  I am a great fan of surrealists and magical realists.  I like many abstract paintings, though not all.  I enjoy contemporary paintings.  But at the same time I think these labels are not mutually exclusive. Each age has its own visual culture.  There is no point in resisting a new movement.  After all there is nothing all good and there is nothing all bad.

Where our art and artist suffers?

I am not the one who laments that governments are not doing enough, or academies are not doing the right thing.  Governments are actually doing a lot of good things to promote art.  Art is a part of our cultured social life.  Its relevance comes only when the primary needs are satisfied.  The cave man scored his first picture on the rock most probably after a satisfying meal.  When everyone is well off, it will be a good time for the artist.

Do you think that artists living in Kerala will get together to forge a new movement for a "visual renaissance" in the State in near future?

Not likely.  Keralites are otherwise busy.  Times have changed too.  We live in post modern times where we believe that a ‘poem’ is not anything superior to an ‘advertisement’.  Old school people may find the argument strange and even incomprehensible.  There are art renewal movements in different parts of the world.  But they have no reach beyond a certain number of people.  The only objection I have in art is against the practice of celebrating sloppiness, clichéd negativism, and amateurish lines and colors.   Impatience cannot be termed as a mastery of stroke.  Art with quality will have a lasting appeal despite temporary setbacks.

Do you agree that paper on paintings in colleges and schools would motivate the students to learn about the art and thereby contribute for its preservation?
It is really necessary.  The impulse to draw and paint is innate to human beings.  Look at children and see how they enjoy their drawing and coloring.  Some people lose this fascination on the way.  Some don’t, and they become artists.  Art is a major part of every culture.  Children should have an opportunity to know about it.  In our schools there used to be art teachers, but not anymore.  It is not a fact that we can be proud of.

Which are the solo exhibitions you have conducted?

I am a self taught artist and so I am not very sure about how our art scenario works.I exhibit and sell my works online through my websites. I have two of them.  http://www.varnachitra.com and http://www.seekpaintings.com. I have two blogs where I share my ideas and new projects.They are http://varnachitra.blogspot.comandttp://seekpaintings.blogspot.com.Itweetathttp://www.twitter.com/varnachitra. I manage a large group named ‘paintings’ at http://www.linkedin.com where there are more than a thousand artists, dealers and museum curators who actively discuss art. I market some of my artworks through novica.com.  I also list and sell my paintings at many online galleries and ebay.  I am planning my first offline exhibition at Bangalore in December this year.


Which are the future projects in hand?

I have several series of paintings in my mind.  One is a series interpreting major modern poems in English.  The first one is almost finished and it is titled, “UnrealCity”.  It is my reading of the first part of ‘The Wasteland’ titled ‘The Burial of the Dead’.  Another series is a surrealist magical realist blend.  A painting I have done in preparation for this series is titled “Life on Mobius Strips”.  I think it will be a good idea to do similar paintings under a series, but I don’t want to restrict myself to a particular theme or style.  This is against the wisdom of current art practitioners who advise to specialize on a particular style.  I want to specialize in variety.