Description
POnNIAM CHANDRAN
Ponniam Chandran is an accomplished Indian artist, writer, educator, and art administrator with a distinguished presence in the contemporary art landscape. He pursued advanced studies in Painting at the École des Beaux-Arts, Caen, France, under a French Government Scholarship, and completed a French language course at Alliance Française, Mahe.
With over 33 years of teaching experience, Chandran served as an art educator at Kuthuparamba High School and has played an influential administrative role as Secretary of the Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi (2016–2019). He remains actively engaged in art education through workshops and lectures that promote visual literacy, particularly among young learners.
As a practicing artist, he has held 34 solo exhibitions in India and abroad and participated in major national art camps organised by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, and leading private institutions. His paintings are known for their expressive, symbolic language that bridges realism and abstraction. Recurring themes include nature, memory, history, and social critique—most notably expressed through the recurring fish motif symbolising life and movement, and powerful works such as Against Fascism.
A prolific author, Chandran has published 12 books, including five on painting and art studies, and has written extensively on Indian modern masters such as K.C.S. Paniker. He received the State Government Mundassery Award for K.C.S. Paniker: Art and Life and is a two-time recipient of the Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi Award for Painting. Influenced by artists like Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso, his work combines layered brushwork, rich colour, and emotional depth. His works have been exhibited at leading galleries including Suan Artland, Mumbai, and are held in significant collections, reflecting a practice rooted in Indian culture yet universal in relevance.
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