Sunaparanta – Goa Centre for the Arts will be hosting an exhibition of George Oommen on the 21st of February 2014. The exhibition will be inaugurated by architect Bruno Sousa and will be on at Sunaparanta till the 7th of March 2014.
George Oommen is a Boston-based, Harvard-educated architect and painter whose art is inspired by the memories of a childhood spent in the spice coast of Kerala in India. His landscapes take viewers on enchanted journeys, reflecting the verdant views, serene waterways and sun-drenched skies of Kerala. Some of these journeys are mystical – like the collection entitled ‘Sacred Spaces Within You’. These abstract compositions are inspired by Indian temples ‘where pilgrims are conveyed from secular spaces to the inner sanctum of one’s spiritual self’. This spatial exploration reflects Oommen’s architectural background. Oommen’s art is very versatile. It is tactile, emotional, spiritual and as sensual as the vivid colours of the silk saris that have influenced his Kanjeevaram series.
Sunaparanta – Goa Centre for the Arts is a non-profit arts education initiative of Dattaraj V. Salgaocar. It has the following broad aims and objectives: to preserve the artistic and legacies of Goa, to encourage, sponsor and promote innovative work in the visual arts, to serve as a bridge between the Goan art community and the national and international art communities, and most importantly, to provide resource support to art students and others interested in art.
Born in Munnar, Kerala, India, and educated in India, Mexico, and the United States, George Oommen continues to derive artistic inspiration from the lush green landscapes of his homeland. Every winter, Oommen visits Mankotta, a small island in the inland waters of Kerala in southwestern India, ten miles from Oommen’s ancestral home. The weeks spent there fuel his painting year round.
