Sumukha Gallery - Artist Information

ARTIST PERSONAL

C. Douglas

Born in Tellicherry, Kerala, in 1950, Douglas enrolled in the Madras School of Arts & Crafts in 1971, after a stint in Balan Nair’s art school back home.A diploma in Painting in 1976 also brought him close to the Cholamandal group of artists, chiefly K.C.S Paniker and K. Ramanujam, whose self-torturing works particularly inspired his artistic impulse. A quarter of a century later today, Douglas is rated among the most significant of the younger group of artists whose works never fail to confound and seduce.From 1981 to 1988,Douglas spent a turbulent phase in Munich, Germany, working, learning and exhibiting at the Haus der Kunst and other venues in many German cities. His dialogues and exchanges with German artists have left deep impressions on his subsequent work.Returning to livein Cholamandal in 1989, Douglas has retained a creative edge with his self imposed physical isolation. At the same time, he has provoked enormous critical interest with his periodic participation in major solo (at least seven) and group (over fortyfive) exhibitions in India and abroad.Douglas’s works are today part of several collections andhe has been winning a steady stream of awards, including the Tamilnadu State and the National Award for painting (1992). He received the Government of India’s Junior Fellowship (1991-93) and Senior Fellowship (1994-96).In 1994, he went on invitation to the Eurpoean Ceramic Centre at Hertogenbosch, Holland, to explore the ceramic medium and has held a few exhibitions of his work. The same year he also received the Charles Wallace Trust Fellowship. He lives and works in Cholamandal Artists’ Village, Chennai, India.

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