Velu Viswanathan, popularly known as Paris Viswanathan (born 1 January 1940) is an Indian painter, sculptor and filmmaker. He is considered by many as one of the prominent modern painters in India. He is a recipient of the Best Documentary Film Award of the Festival dei Popoli, Florence and the ''K. C. S. Paniker Award'' of the Kerala Lalithakala

Biography

V. Viswanathan was born in 1940 at Kadavoor, Kollam in the south Indian state of Kerala. After early education, he joined the

Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai The Government College of Fine Arts (initially known as the Madras School of Art) in Chennai is the oldest art institution in India. The institution was established in 1850 by surgeon Alexander Hunter as a private art school. In 1852, after be ...

in 1960 where he had the opportunity to study under noted painter, K. C. S. Paniker. After securing a diploma from the institution in 1966, he assisted Paniker in setting up

Cholamandal Artists' Village Cholamandal Artists' Village is an artists' commune in Chennai, India. Established in 1966, it is the largest artists' commune in India. The community is located in the southern coastal neighborhood of Injambakkam. Its artists are credited for t ...

and moved into the village as one of the first batch of members. In 1967, he participated in

Biennale de Paris The ''Biennale de Paris'' (English: Paris Biennale) is a noted French art festival. History The 'Biennale de Paris' was launched by Raymond Cogniat in 1959 and set up by André Malraux as he was Minister of Culture to present an overview of young ...

; He settled in the city, the next year and has been living there since then.

Legacy

Viswanathan has participated in many international and national art festivals, including

and the International Biennale of Engraving at

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

and several art galleries such as Galerie, Ved Aaven, Aarhus, Galerie de France, Galerie Stig Carlsson,

Höganäs Höganäs () (old da, Højenæs) is a locality and the seat of Höganäs Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 14,107 inhabitants in 2010. Höganäs is nationally known for its ceramics industry, Höganäs Keramik. Höganäs Keramik is par ...

, Centre Georges Pompidou, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi and

National Gallery of Modern Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

have staged his one man shows and retrospectives. He was also involved with the ''Art Rises for Kerala'' (ARK) initiative at the 2019 edition of the

Kochi-Muziris Biennale The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is an international exhibition of contemporary art held in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. It is the largest art exhibition in the country and the biggest contemporary art festival in Asia. The Kochi-Muziris Bienna ...

where his paintings were auctioned to raise funds for the reconstruction activities of the

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior mini ...

in the wake of the

2018 Kerala floods On 16 August 2018, severe floods affected the south Indian state Kerala, due to unusually high rainfall during the monsoon season. It was the worst flood in Kerala in nearly a century. Over 483 people died, and 15 are missing. About a millio ...

. He has also made a few films, starting with a series titled, ''The Pancha Bhoota'' consisting of 5 films, ''Ganga'' as well as a series titled ''Back to Elements''.

Awards and honours

Viswanathan received the award for the best documentary film at the Festival dei Popoli held at

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, in 1986.

Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Kerala Lalithakala Academy for Fine Arts is an autonomous body which was established in 1962 to promote art and artistic heritage, based at Thrissur in Kerala. Murali Cheeroth is the newly appointed chairman of Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi on 202 ...

awarded him the inaugural ''K. C. S. Paniker Award'' in 2008. He was also honoured with the Chevalier des arts et letters by the French Government in 200

Got Raja Ravi Varma Award in 2018.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Viswanathan, Paris 20th-century Indian painters Malayali people Artists from Kollam Living people Kochi-Muziris Biennale Painters from Kerala Indian male painters 1940 births Indian male sculptors Indian filmmakers 20th-century Indian film directors 20th-century Indian sculptors Indian documentary film directors Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai alumni 20th-century Indian male artists