Mahen Chanmugam, Inner Worlds III, 2022

Mahen Chanmugam has dedicated at least 30 years of his life in revealing to us the various incarnations, possibilities and forms of Lord Ganesh, known for his wisdom, his mischievousness, and his everchanging universal truth. Mahen Chanmugam’s latest exhibition ‘Ganeshism 5’, which is being held at Barefoot Gallery, is a celebration of Lord Ganesh and the powerful journey that the two have taken together through the years. Mahen Chanmugam’s proviso with Ganesh is one of thinking outside as well as inside of the box. Whether it be through movement or immersion, each and every Ganesh that has emerged through the mind of Mahen is indeed, magical and unique. Mahen has taken our fancy further than Hindu mythology. He has become rather infatuated with Ganesh. With ‘Ganeshism 5’, he takes us through the very inner recesses, to the most widespread possibilities, of Ganesh.  As in a mantra or chanting session, Mahen’s desire, is to bring us all into a euphoric awareness, through the repetition of Lord Ganesh in ‘Ganeshism 5.’

One can clearly visualize this type of euphoria in ‘Inner Worlds III’ (60 x 90 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2022). We can perceive and imagine just through the title, a dreaming Ganesh, eyes closed, enacting Krishna, holding his flute and dancing peacefully, enjoying him. The amber tone of the entire image with a few hints of black and red, give it a dreaming, floating quality. One can almost hear his melody and see the smoothly swaying hips of this full, beautiful, form captured in the painting.

Mahen Chanmugam, Breath, 2022

A completely different sensation comes over one as one sees ‘Breath’ (50 x 70 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2022). Though again, Ganesh’s eyes are closed, we now see him in a more meditative tranquil state. He must be, very much, awake, for now he is playing Krishna’s flute. Gone are his legs, now turned to a skirt of leaves. The symbol of ‘Om’ in stark white, the cloudy, rainbow-colored background, with contemplative Ganesh floating in his own reveries, tell us all, that we must breathe. The painting is masterfully done with bright pinks and blues used only as contrast and highlights. Ganeshism, is a collaboration between the streams of distinctive practice, a system, philosophy and artistic movement – minus the political ideologies.

Mahen Chanmugam, Kundalini Shakthi, 2022

‘Kundalini Shakthi’ (65 x 135 cm, Acrylic on antique shutter, 2019) is an installation. It is bold and somewhat scary, like one would think of Kundalini or Shakthi for that matter. It is one of the few that does not have the form of Ganesh. However, if one knows anything about Ganesh and/or about his heavenly parents (Shiva and Parvathi), then one can understand how far in to the depths of research Mahen Chanmugam has gone in order to come up with ’Ganeshism’. This and its partner ‘Energy of Creation’ (85 x 162 cm, Acrylic on antique wooden door, 2019) hang on the side entrance or one could even say at the exit, a sort of blessing, of his exhibition. Mahen Chanmugam’s works of art embody the language of spirit and religion in his collections of work, ‘Ganeshism’ which consist of his interpretations of Vedic practices of humankind. Most, if not all, of his artwork completed in 2023 is so far, untitled. It is as if throughout the many years that he has helped us understand what he is (or is it Ganesh) trying say through his paintings, by now we should understand the meaning behind the image or we should at least interpret the art as is, without the help of a title.

Mahen Chanmugam, Untitled VI, 2022

In Mahen’s latest works, such as, ‘Untitled VI’ (60 x 90 cm, Acrylic on canvas, 2023), Ganesh looks very different. He has only two hands and absolutely no jewelry, no symbolic ornaments anywhere to be seen. Ganesh seems to be saying goodbye. With what seem like a time machine in the background, Ganesh is seen flying out of his seat with his mice friends skuttling downwards away from his enlightening rise into the heavens. Mahen has indeed matured, explored and studied Ganesh intellectually, spiritually and of course artistically. He himself talks about liberating from the restrictions of the laws of cause and effect, laws based on egoism and vanity. He has taken a well-known symbol of the East, Ganesh; much like Andy Warhol did with his ‘Cambell’s Soup Cans’ paintings, and he has given it a dramatic twist. Mahen Chanmugam has managed to not only strike out at all of our intellectual, egotistical, ‘know it all’s’, but he has taught us an escape from the laws of physics. He has shown us how to dream, that it is most important to dream inside and outside the box. With his talent and his skill and his wonderfully imaginative mind, he has shown us that like, in a dream, we are limitless, inside and out.

Mahen Chanmugan’s exhibition ‘Ganeshism 5’ is on right now: June 1st through the 24th, at Barefoot Gallery. Mahen has had many solo exhibitions in Singapore and Sri Lanka. He left Sri Lanka to work in Hong Kong and Singapore in 1991 in visual communication.  He came back to Sri Lanka and pursued his career in art in 2005. He works mostly with Acrylic on canvas or wood, but is able to work with any type of media, using all types of material. Currently Mahen lives in Colombo with his wife and two children; along with some other residents include cats, dogs, bats, tropical fish and water monitors. 

Written by Namalee Siriwardhane