The Fearless Disruptor

T. Venkanna's ferociously beautiful artworks hint at his prodigious brilliance,

- RADHIKA IYENGAR

Amidst a lush, green gemtoned thicket, an orgy is underway. The natural curtains of trees reveal more than they conceal. Nude figures indulge in erotic gratification. The air is thick with desire. If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine a staccato of sounds: throaty grunts of pleasure, half-suspended moans, soft sighs. T. Venkanna’s artwork, titled ‘Neither There Nor Here’ (2022), belongs to a striking collection of large-scale, hand-embroidered paintings that were exhibited at his solo show Love Me As I Am at Gallery Maskara during Mumbai Gallery Weekend in January, alongside a selection of his monochromatic watercolour drawings on Wasli paper.

The artist’s visceral creations are not meant for puritans. He presents human beings as their raw, primal selves who flout killjoy conservatism. The figures in his fantastical universe are liberated beings— free of inhibitions, moral judgment and censorship. Here, the markers of gender, caste and class cease to exist. In ‘Churning’ (2022), two women rendered in luminous threads of gold and bronze lie in an ungainly position with their hips raised high, grabbing each other by the flesh, writhing in pleasure and praying to a ripe pomegranate tree. “The tree is symbolic of fertility in many cultures,” explains Venkanna. ‘Churning’ visually elucidates same-sex couples’ desire to have children, while simultaneously serving as a powerful portrayal of gender that challenges conservative adoption laws in India.