Binoy Varghese-Art Bahrain

Uma Nair

Binoy Varghese is at best an artist who combines Classical and Modern Painting Skills to create hyper realist works. His works at ART BAHRAIN are produced with his superb, signature techniques: the layering of rich colors with a matte finish; the black and shiny hair contrasted with fine, bronzed Indian flesh; sparkling eyes echoed by the figure’s discreet expressions; the shimmering textures of raw youthfulness of children and the languorous naivety of young girls.

As such, Binoy’s subjects appear with a near three dimensionality, and the viewer is seduced by his intentional emphasis on his figure’s delicate features, brought out in a hyper-realist manner reminiscent to that of the photorealism of early western artists. In the image of the Assamese tea leaf picker the portraiture genre conventionally accentuates the viewer’s direct interaction with the depicted young woman’s facial expression, posture, and gaze. Binoy’s handling of the composition reveals how he cleverly re-works these conventions in his depiction .In this work, the young woman’s features are glimpsed only partially and she averts our gaze, her attire celebrated with the colours and floral print.