Shaji Appukuttan
(b. 1970)
Shaji Appukuttan’s art practice explores geopolitics not as an extravaganza but an existential one, as essential as planetary survival. Ecological footprints have been visible in every nook and corner of the planet. The effects of ecological overshoot are discernible in the crises of global warming and climate change. The tyranny of the Anthropocene and the proliferation of the technosphere have caused a seismic shift in nature’s ontology and fundamentally disrupted the living planet’s biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere. These planetary concerns have been there and continue to haunt him, both in the foreground and background of his paintings. For Shaji, the social life of hills, rivers, and forests are synonymous with the logos of human associations, and symbolically, the ensemble of that relationality would find an echo in his works.
Shaji studied at the Govt Fine Arts College, Thrissur, Kerala. He has been a recipient of Kerala Lalitha kala Akademi State Award in 1992, Sidhartha foundation Award in 2018. He also received a grant from Jackson Pollock Krasner Foundation, New York in 2020-21. Recently, he had a solo exhibition “Ghost trees” at Lalithkala Akademi art gallery, Payyannur – Kannur (2023). Shaji has also curated a group show ”Rustic Footmarks” at Durbar hall art Center with 29 eminent Indian artists. Currently, he is living and working in Ernakulam.
