About the Artist and his work :
Born : 1960, Kerala.
Education :
• Initiations in Art under Jyothi Sahi at Silvepura, Bangalore.
• Disciple of Anthony Devasy of Kalakendra, Thrissur .
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
• 2005 ‘Landscape Parables’, Malabar House, Kochi.
• 1997 Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore.
• 1997 Mainz and Saarbrucken, Germany.
• 1991 Alliance Francaise, Bangalore .
Selected Group Exhibitions:
• 2011 ‘Cross Currents’, Art Positive, New Delhi.
• 2010 ‘Roots in the Contemporary’, presented by Mahua Art Gallery, Bangalore at Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery, Mumbai.
• 2009 ‘The Still Point in a Turning World’, Galerie Métanoïa, Paris.
• 2009 ‘The Root of Everything’, Gallery Memento, Bangalore.
• 2008 ‘Deeper Than Skin’, DAIRA Centre for Arts and Culture, Hyderabad.
• 2008 ‘In Small Format’, Gallery Kolkata, Kolkata.
• 2008 ‘Young Contemporary India’, Gallery Kolkata, Kolkata.
• 2007 ‘Emerging India’, Henry Moore Gallery, Royal College of Art, London.
• 2007 ‘In the Fore’, Noble Sage Art Gallery, London.
• 2006 ‘Titled – Untitled’, ARTrium, Singapore, organized by National Arts Council, Singapore and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.
• 2006 ‘Indian Contemporary Art’, Indes Media, Paris.
• 2006 ‘14 Bangalore Artists’, Hues Art Gallery, Chennai.
• 2005-06 ‘Mapping the South’, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai.
• 2005-06 ‘Metrospective: Visual Representations of Metro Sexuality’, Mumbai, New Delhi.
• 2005 ‘Open Eyed Dreams’, Durbar Hall, Kochi.
• 2003 ‘The Art on Paper Fair’, Stand 32, The Royal College of Art, London.
• 2002 ‘The Dance of the Indian Brush’, Leboye Gallery, Kemang, Jakarta.
• 2000 ‘The Eternal Embrace’, Dubai.
Joint Exhibitions:
• 2008 ‘Still.Silent’, with T M Azis at Alliance Francaise, New Delhi.
• 2003 ‘Water lines’, India Habitat Center, New Delhi.
• 2002 ‘Temples of the Mind – II’, Arpana’s Gallery, New Delhi, Bangalore.
Participations:
• 2011 ‘50.25.10’, presented by Artchutney at The Taj Corridor, The Taj West End, Bangalore.
• 2004 Annual Show, Gallery Sara Arakkal, Bangalore.
• 2002 8th European Patch Work Meeting, France.
• 2001 10th Triennale International, National Academy of Art, India.
Honours and Awards:
• 2005 Arad International Biennale of Art, Romania.
• 2002 Honorable Mention, 10th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh.
• 2000 Honorable Mention, 42nd National Exhibition of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.
C.F. John’s subject brings together the balance of lines and planes, as well as of the rational and emotional in human existence. The results are astonishing – moments of unusual physical calm and motion arrested on the canvas.
Style:
C.F John is uses his artworks to spread awareness about sensitive issues that affect the society in general. C.F John has also developed an innovative style of adding natural fibres on his canvases.
John’s artwork is not easy. It is a continual challenge both to himself and the viewer. Like all else, he sees art as a fluid space which transcends ideologies, and is freed from ‘endless imitation’ of current thoughts in circulation. His deep faith in the earth and its ability to renew itself gives his art an edge that constantly defies definitions, categories and labels. In communion with the natural world, his art remains fresh and alive.
