CN Karunakaran, the celebrated painter form Kerala belongs to the group
of artists who ushered in modernity to Independent India. Born in 1940
in Kerala in Brahmakulam, a laidback hamlet, Karunakaran grew up in a
peaceful home as the youngest in the family. During the pre-independence
days in rural Kerala, the boy’s horizon was bound by his village
limits. But he used to collect British magazine covers with beautiful
landscapes, which he loved to copy. That was his initiation into
training in art. He copied the image of Asoka Pillar while in the 3rd
standard which fetched him recognition in school. His first published
work was the painting of water lilies that appeared on the cover of a
Malayalam magazine. The child artist emerged with promise.
The recently launched book ‘MYTHIC IMAGINATION: ART OF C.N. KARUNAKARAN’
edited by Satyapal is a testimony to the singularity of his fine art.
Quite handy, chronologically edited, the book is a visual odyssey
through the 6 decades of his painting that traces the development of his
art like a graph. The fine looking layout enhances the book like a work
of art. His oeuvre is the transmutation of the eternal into a
visual language with Indian sensibility. He has carved a niche for
himself with his unique signature in visual arts. The book published in
English language brings the artist to the national mainstream. The book
is not just a collection of his works but a peep into the making of the
artist and an assessment of his creative world by eminent writers in the
field of art.
