Of the great stages of life, death is perhaps the most frightening, and death as a
result of war, perhaps the most tragic.
In this series of large-format ink drawings, artist T . Venkanna visits the horrors of
war and examines the impact of violence - not just on humans, but on all the
species that inhabit the earth.
Works such as Entry Only recall the artist’s visit to the Auschwitz concentration
camp in modern Poland, where innocent people were gassed and murdered en
masse. In Endless Journey, the artist draws our attention to the ongoing crisis of
refugees and migrants, many of whom perish on the high seas while trying to cross
the Mediterranean into Europe. Other works examine man’s dichotomous
relationship between pain and pleasure in wartime, and how suffering remains long
after violence ceases.
This body of work is an invitation to examine not just the costs of war, but also
reflect on its causes. The result of war can only be the destruction of nature in the
hands of man, as well as the destruction of mankind.
-Abhay Maskara
