The portrait of a young artist

By Taru Bahl

He started dabbling with paints and crayons at the age of three, like any other toddler. By the time he was seven, his parents had realised that their brooding son had more than just a ‘feel for colours’. He was already doing thematic subjects and visually striking abstracts which showed tremendous control and a sense of proportion. That is when he was given his first set of canvases, oils and acrylics. In 1997, Adarsh Alphons had his first solo exhibition followed by another solo at the Lalit Kala Akademi the following year, making him the youngest artist to have exhibited there. Critics pronounced him as child prodigy. Art aficionados were struck by his maturity and his friends stood back to reassess the genius in their midst. Adarsh himself was unfazed by the adulation and success. He just wanted to skate, play video games and try out burgers at the latest fast food eatery in town.

A student of class X, Blue Bells School in Delhi and son of high profile former bureaucrat and writer AJS Alphons, he is surprisingly unassuming and unfazed by the ripples he has caused in the art fraternity. He has had three exhibitions in London and New York as well with some of his works selling for as much as £ 3000. Although he enjoys doing abstract a lot of his pieces are inspired by issues like discrimination, war, bullying and poverty. He loves doing portraits and his favourite ones include Mother Teresa’s profile and a pencil sketch of Nelson Mandela which he did in a matter of minutes while the leader was making his speech. He is fascinated by the human form, particularly the face and its expressions.

Adarsh scrutinises his subjects closely, tries to peel off the superficial layers and expose what he perceives via the medium of colours and bold strokes. According to Anjolie Ela Menon, "Adarsh’s talent needs to be nurtured and protected. He is original, has a fresh approach towards art and has a tremendous sense of colours".

Adarsh muses that though his school has a fairly decent art department and art teachers, most schools are ill-equipped for spotting the rare talent of a lone child. And even if they identify a prodigy in their midst, they do not know what to do with him. How to guide and give him exposure is one dilemma but the visible threat is that he may be better than the teacher himself! Schools can, therefore, stunt the child’s creativity, regimenting his artistic responses and conditioning his thought processes.

Adarsh feels that a lot depends on the child and his immediate family. He did not allow his environment to be a deterrent. His father’s keen interest and support allowed the young artist to explore unhindered. Visiting exhibitions, meeting artists, planning shows, tying up with art gallery owners, handling the publicity and promotion were all diligently seen to by the senior Alphons.

Adarsh wearing his 13 years rather wisely says, "If you want to exhibit abroad you have to have an art agent. The embassy too has to extend support. In India to have a successful show, the right contacts make all the difference. " He is currently working for his Board exams and does not plan to hold any exhibitions this year. He has won the National Skating Championships twice and has won the inter-school computer and Karate competitions as well. He says rather emphatically, "I don’t think artists or singers or musicians are any different. Their being eccentric or on a different plane is a myth. Maybe scientists are an exception."

Adarsh does not tom-tom his success to his school buddies; neither does he flash rave newspaper and magazine reviews to his school teachers. He wants to be accepted like any other child of his age because he sincerely feels he is one of them. He is extremely good in physics and mathematics. He keeps evolving shorter and newer ways of solving maths numericals and theorems a la Shakuntala Devi. These may, at a later date be brought out in the form of a small ready-reckoner.

He has a precise and logical mind. Most of the times he knows what he wants to paint before he sets his canvas out. It is only in the case of portraits that he keeps coating his canvas to get the right expression and line in place. For abstracts and modern art he allows his mind to dictate the movement of the brush. He has high levels of concentration and he doesn’t mull too long over his works.

Most of his works convey a thought or an idea. He says he hasn’t undergone any formal training or been a part of any art workshop. He has casually studied some of the art forms and artistes. He is particularly fascinated by the works of Leonardo da Vinci, M.F Hussain and Satish Gujral. He is not sure whether he wants to study art formally after High School. As a parting shot he tells you that he is a regular taxpayer to the Government of India. Here is an artist who believes in method and logic, has an uncluttered mind and takes his talent very matter of factly.