M.P Dhakshna
Artist Statement
For The 9 Emotions exhibition the renowned South Indian hoarding-painter M.P Dhakshna and his studio collaborators - Balu, Raghunathan and Chandrakantha - have produced a vivid specially-commissioned series of large-scale images embodying the nine specific emotions celebrated in Indian art and drama. Each one is fixed in an imagined but typical scenario - as though it were the star of its own film. They are painting of arresting power, drama, and emotion.
The huge specially-painted film hoardings that dominate city roads across much of India rely on compelling renderings of character and emotion to advertise their wares:heroic, virile men with swords and pistols on the draw; moustachioed faces contorted with red rage; lovers swooning under a glistening yellow moon...
But new methods of poster-printing and photo-reproduction become more readily available, the hoarding- painter's art is under threat.
