KYNKYNY
Contemporary Indian Art since 2004
KYNKYNY was founded in 2004 by the husband and wife duo Namu Kini and Vivek Radhakrishnan. With an aim to make the fascinating world of Indian art more accessible to the world, KYNKYNY supports emerging and established artists – offering a highly curated selection of original and authentic artworks. Since its inception, KYNKYNY has worked with over 300 artists from all over India and has shipped its art across the globe; from Dubai and Lithuania to Australia and Brazil.
CURRENT EXHIBITION
Stories of the Land
Mohan Naik and Sivabalan
Mohan Naik and Sivabalan
KYNKYNY’s latest exhibition meanders through tranquil hamlets, lush green fields and the lively markets and temples of south India’s idyllic countryside. Featuring two prominent and well-loved contemporary artists, Mohan Naik and Sivabalan, the richly expressive art works are an ode to the lesser seen and known rural worlds of Goa and Tamil Nadu. On view from January 5 to 31, the exhibition documents and celebrates the incandescent natural beauty as well as the rich culture, traditions and everyday sights in the region’s villages and towns. Goatherds lingering in pastures, flower ladies selling their wares, little boys playing with tyres – the atmospheric works capture the beauty of rustic life with intimacy and warmth.
Mohan Naik’s art features a Goa that is a world away from its popular beaches, tourists and revelry. Instead, his oils on canvas showcase the pristine and serene world of remote Goan villages. Village life is the muse and overarching presence in the South Goa-based artist’s works – it’s a world that Naik knows intimately. The artist not only spent his childhood in South Goa’s villages, but continues to reside in a secluded one in the region.
It is his immediate world – the jade green forests and pastures and the gentle rhythms of daily life – that find their way into his oil paintings. The scenes he paints are drenched in a soft glow of light and warm, bright earth tones. The stylised, almond-eyed human figures, shown alongside goats, birds and trees, exude a quiet radiance and a state of oneness with the natural world around them.
Set in picturesque rural Tamil Nadu, Sivabalan’s art paints vivid and luminous pictures of ordinary life, fading traditions and still-carefully-preserved ways of being. The immersive oils on canvas and watercolours are set in the self-contained and charming universe of Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, where the artist grew up. Untouched by the clamour of modern life, the temple district serves as an endless source of inspiration. His vibrant and lifelike paintings spotlight the magic of quiet, mundane moments, and people going about their daily business as well the carnivalesque festivities and culture of village life.
With an intriguing mixture of minimalist backgrounds and richly detailed foregrounds, the works capture the joyful tableau of rustic life, from the grandeur of temple processions and majestic caparisoned elephants to the cheerful bustle of fisherwomen with baskets on their heads, women hefting pots of water and little boys and girls at play.
“Stories of the Land” offers an escape from mechanised city life into idyllic rural settings filled with realism as well as enchantment. It’s a strong reminder of the uplifting world that can be created when we connect meaningfully with the earth and follow simple and culturally rich ways of living.
