His tribute may be sincere, but his manner of expressing it is odd, says ADELINE BERTIN of an exhibition of blood paintingsRetired vice-principal Ravichandran Gupta has an unusual format for artistic expression: he commissions paintings, but they are coloured with his own blood. The former schoolteacher has researched lesser-known martyrs of the freedom struggle and, with the support of painter Gurudarshan Singh Binkal, their story has been illustrated — in his blood.
For the 72-year-old, this is the only way of creating awareness about the sacrifice the martyrs made. Gupta says he was inspired to do this because of the famous quote of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: “Give me your blood, I will give you freedom.”
Appropriately, the exhibition opened at Delhi’s Red Fort last week. Gupta founded the Shaheed Smriti Chetna Samiti in 1997, and documented more than 500 children who died very young in the freedom struggle (from the ages of 6-20 years). “It is the blood of such martyrs that have given us freedom. So it is apt to have these paintings in blood,” claims Gupta.
Even if somewhat apposite, the use of blood as artistic medium might seem gory to many viewers, however. It’s a moot point, therefore, whether his blood, sweat and tears will lead to any artistic glory.
