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C. N. Karunakaran

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C.N. Karunakaran
Born1940
Brahmakulam, Thrissur, Kerala, India
Died14 December 2013(2013-12-14) (aged 73)
Kochi, Kerala
Resting placeCorporation of Cochin Ravipuram Crematorium
Occupation(s)Painter, art director, illustrator
SpouseEaswari
ChildrenA son and a daughter
Awards

C. N. Karunakaran (1940 – 14 December 2013) was an Indian painter, illustrator and art director from Kerala.[1] He was the Chairman of the Kerala Lalitakala Academy and a recipient of several honours including the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Award which he won thrice. The Akademi honoured him again with the fellowship in 2005.

Biography

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C. N. Karunakaran was born in 1940 at Brahmakulam, a village near Guruvayur in Thrissur District of Kerala.[2] He contracted typhoid while he was a child and the complications from the disease crippled him in one of his legs.[3] Through most of his childhood, he was undergoing ayurvedic treatment because of which he could not pursue academic studies.[4] His formal training in art was at the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai where he learned under such as D. P. Roy Choudhury and K. C. S. Paniker to secure two diplomas; one in design and another in advanced painting.[2]

He stayed in Chennai even after his studies, making advertisement films and working as an art director in a few Malayalam films.[5] In 1970, he shifted his base to Kochi where he became involved with Kerala Kalapeedom (Kerala Institute of Arts). Here, he had the opportunity to interact with a host of like-minded people such as M. V. Devan, Kanayi Kunhiraman, A. C. K. Raja, Namboothiri, K. P. Soman, M. K. K. Nair, C. N. Sreekantan Nair, M. K. Sanu, Pattathuvila Karunakaran, M. Thomas Mathew and T. Ramachandran. Three years later, he founded Chitrakoodam, the first privately-owned art gallery in Kerala[6] but the initiative ran only for four years until 1977. He was also involved with Ochre, another private art gallery in Kochi.[2] Subsequently, he focused his career mainly on painting and illustrations; Manorama Weekly, Kalakaumudi, Kerala Kaumudi Weekly, Malayalanadu, Chintha, Deshabhimani Weekly, Kumkumam, Mathrubhumi Weekly, Bhashaposhini and India Today were some of the publications he illustrated for.[7][8] He also illustrated Lore and Legends of Kerala, the English translation of Aithihyamala, published by Oxford University Press.[9]

Karaunakaran as married to Easwari, and the couple had a son, Ayillyan and a daughter, Ammini.[3] He died in Kochi on 14 December 2013, at the age of 73, succumbing to cardiac failure following a brief period of illness.[5] The body was cremated at the Corporation of Cochin Ravipuram Crematorium.[3] His son, Ayillyan Karunakaran, is an advertisement filmmaker.[10]

Legacy

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the untiring cartographer of female geography… the essence of the subject remains a constant, it is the flavor of the subject that moves to create and recreate, said Tanya Abraham, art critic, on Karanakaran.[4]

A drawing by C. N. Karunakaran

One of the first assignments Karunakaran undertook after returning to Kerala from Chennai was the restoration of murals at Guruvayur temple.[4] He participated in several exhibitions, both group and solo, at various places in India and abroad, including the Embassy of India in Washington, Asian Art Gallery, Virginia, Brazilian cities like Rio de Janeiro, Paraty, São Paulo and Brasilia, Asian Art Gallery, Vienna and Kuwait.[7][11] During his stay in Chennai, he was also involved with the Madras Design Demonstration Centre, a unit of the Government of Tamil Nadu where he assisted the centre in improving the handicrafts business[4] and has illustrated a number of literary works in book form.[12]

Karaunakaran's debut in films was in 1978 when he designed the production of Ekakini, directed by G. S. Panicker.[13] The next year, when K. R. Mohanan made his debut film, Ashwadhamavu, Karunakaran started his career as an art director,[14] in which he also played a small part.[15] He went on to work for four more films, Akkare (1984) of K. N. Sasidharan, Purushartham (1986) of K. R. Mohanan, Ore Thooval Pakshikal (1988) of Chintha Ravi and Alicinte Anveshanam (1989) of T. V. Chandran.[16]

Awards and honours

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His performance during his student years at the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai earned him the gold medal of the Government of Madras for the best outgoing student in 1956.[2] He received one more award before he returned to Kerala, the annual award of Madras Lalit Kala Akademi in 1964.[7] He received the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Award, thrice, twice in succession in 1971 and 1972 and later, in 1975. He was selected for the P. T. Bhaskara Panicker Award in 2000 and for the Malayattoor Ramakrishnan Award in 2003. The Kerala Lalithakala Akademi indicted him as a distinguished fellow in 2005;[17] Akademi honoured him again in 2009, with Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram, their highest award.[18] Artist Sathypal, the former chairman of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi,[19] has published a book, Mythic Imagination: Art of C.N. Karunakaran,[20] which covers Karaunakaran's work from 1950s to 2011.[21]

Filmography

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As art director

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As designer

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As actor

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Solo exhibitions

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C. N. Karunakaran at Vidyarangam State Sahityolsavam, Alwaye

The following is the list of his solo exhibitions of paintings.[22]

References

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  1. ^ Special Correspondent (14 December 2013). "Artist C. N. Karunakaran passes away". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 14 December 2013. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ a b c d "C. N. Karunakaran - Kerala Tourism profile". Kerala Tourism. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Painter CN Karunakaran dies". Deccan Chronicle. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d "Profile - CN Karunakaran: The artist and his world - Padma Jayaraj". www.narthaki.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Artist C. N. Karunakaran passes away". The Hindu. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  6. ^ "C.N.Karunakaran - Artisit Information by Art Kerala". 30 May 2006. Archived from the original on 30 May 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "Profile on defunct web page - archived copy". 15 March 2019. Archived from the original on 1 May 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  8. ^ "C.N. Karunakaran Profile". Chaithanya Art Gallery. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  9. ^ Lore and Legends of Kerala. Oxford University Press. 2008. ISBN 9780195698893. Retrieved 15 March 2019. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "'Keeping Him Alive': Works of artist Karunakaran on display". The Indian Express. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Artist profile on ORG People". orgpeople.com. 15 March 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2005. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  12. ^ "au:Karuṇākaran, Si. En". worldcat.org. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  13. ^ "List of Malayalam Movies design by CN Karunakaran". www.malayalachalachithram.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Ashwathaamaavu (1979)". www.malayalachalachithram.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  15. ^ "List of Malayalam Movies acted by CN Karunakaran". www.malayalachalachithram.com. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  16. ^ "List of Malayalam Movies art direction by CN Karunakaran". www.malayalachalachithram.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Akademi Fellowships - Kerala Lalithakala Akademi". lalithkala.org. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram - Kerala Lalithakala Akademi". lalithkala.org. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  19. ^ "Artist Sathyapal to head Lalithakala Akademi". The Hindu. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  20. ^ Mythic imagination : Art of C.N. Karunakaran (First ed.). Thiruvananthapuram: Chintha Publishers. 2011. ISBN 978-8192159720. OCLC 781937178.
  21. ^ "Word on Art - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  22. ^ "Artist Profile". Chaithanya Art Gallery.

Further reading

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