Fr. Roy Mathew Thottam, a Jesuit artist-priest in Kerala, suggests that the role of Christian artists in India has changed :
"There was a time in the Church when the written Bible was not available to the people. The themes were depicted through paintings, so that common people could understand the Bible and Church teachings.
In modern times, artists deal not so much with the description of the Bible but are more concerned with the interpretation of the Word. They take the ‘word’, reflect and meditate on it, and explain or interpret according to the socio-cultural reality they live in, according to each one’s experience of God."
He calls his own artistic search a "pilgrimage, journeying through the interior world, lives of the people, and the reality I live in. It is to do with a spiritual quest. In fact, every art is spiritual; it is something like meditation."
Angelo da Fonseca and Alfred D. Thomas made serious efforts during the 1930's to find Indian roots for Christian painting in India. They sought to create authentic Indian images of Christ retaining the universalities of Christ. Christ was often portrayed in Indian clothes, as talking to typical Indian villagers and set in typical Indian landscape.
Several outstanding modern Indian painters, such as Jamini Roy, Ravi Varma, Nandalal Bose and M. Reddeppa Naidu, while not Christians, nevertheless painted pictures of Jesus or chose Christian themes in order to portray the nature and predicament of humanity in society. As a former student of the Madras Christian College, K. C. S. Paniker was familiar with the Bible and when he wanted to depict suffering and pain he chose to paint Christ.
Alphonso Doss writes in his article ‘The Image of Christ in Indian Art’:
"Mr. S. Dhanapal and Mr. P.V. Janakiram made bronze and metal sculptures depicting the image of Jesus in 1962 - 65. "Christ carrying the cross" was a popular composition done by S. Dhanapal in bronze which was selected for a National Academy award in 1962. The other sculpture named "Christ carrying the cross" is a group sculpture, in which Christ carrying the cross with his followers depict and express grief and sorrow. In both these sculptures one can see the face and the figuration following Indian contemporary style of expression. The eyes and elongated face of Christ convey a deep sense pf compassion and tolerance which are the characteristic portrayal of Christ ...
Internationally reputed sculptor P.V. Janakiram, aged 72, disciple of K.C.S. Panicker and S. Dhanapal has also been influenced by the suffering of Jesus Christ. He made several figures of Christ, Madonna, Crucifixion conveying the Christian spirit in his work. The most striking one is the sculpture showing Christ stretching his hands expressing love, unity done in copper sheet metal. Welding is employed to fix the copper rod to suggest hair and beard. The whole sculpture is oxidized except the centre area where the brass sheet is welded in the front portion on which decorative elements are found with geometric pattern to beautify the sculpture."
Francis Newton Souza, born in the Portuguese colony of Goa to Indian parents, was brought up as a strict Catholic. In 1949, having become a well-established artist in India, he moved to Britain. After six difficult years living in London, he began to build a considerable reputation as a writer and painter. Souza was the first of India's modern painters to achieve high recognition in the West. His work is in major museum collections around the world including the Tate. As with those mentioned above images of Christ form an important strand within his work.
Among modern and contemporary Indian painters who are Christians are the following, whose work commonly addresses experiences of mixed religious backgrounds and has more recently led to the Indian Christian Art Association and Indian Christian Artists Forum:
Dr. Jyoti Sahi studied art at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and gained a Doctorate in Divinity from Serampore College. Over the years he has taught art at various institutions and centres in India and worked free lance, at the Kurisumala Ashram with Dom Bede Griffiths and Laurie Baker, designing works for Indian Churches. Coming from a mixed religious background having Hindu and Christian roots, Jyoti has spent the last forty years trying to see how it is possible to bridge/integrate these religious and cultural divides through art. He is particularly interested in the relation of Christian symbols and stories to the sacred images that are found in other faith traditions, particularly in the Indian tradition. As an artist, he has been actively involved with various non governmental groups in India concerned with social change.
Frank Wesley was born in Azamgarh, U.P., India in December 1923 into a fifth generation Christian family. His first art exhibition was in 1935. He studied at the government school of Arts and Crafts in Lucknow from 1943 to 1948 . Further studies included four years at the Kyoto Art University in Japan (1954-58) and two years at the Art Institute of Chicago (1958-60). His work has been internationally recognised. He designed the urn for Mahatma Ghandhi's ashes. Five of his paintings were included in the 1950 Holy Year Exhibition at the Vatican. "The Blue Madonna" was used as the first UNICEF Christmas card. In 1973, he emigrated to Australia with his family. He continued to paint prolifically until his death in 2002. In 1993 Naomi Wray published "Frank Wesley: Exploring faith with a brush", (Auckland, Pace publishing), a book that explores Frank's Christian painting.
Ashrafi S. Bhagat writes in ‘Of light, signs and symbols’ that:
"Within the terrain of the Madras Movement internationally acclaimed Alphonso [Doss] is a familiar name. An alumnus of the Government College of Arts and Crafts, he taught painting there and retired as a principal in 1997 ... His depth of knowledge of Christianity in tandem with the philosophy of Hinduism and Buddhism posits him as an artist who can traverse freely across both spheres with these symbols to contextualise his works within a cultural milieu marking it as individual and universal as well. Though his concepts and ideologies transcend the national boundaries to be almost global, there is in Alphonso's works a strong hint of the nativist agenda that was engined by K.C.S. Paniker in the early 60s to establish the face of the Madras Movement within the larger framework of the national milieu."
Joy Elamkunnapuzha drew an original design for Christ the Guru in 1977 and V. Balan executed it in mosaic style on the facade of the Chapel at Dharmaram College in Bangalore, India: "Christ is presented as a yogi in meditation under the sacred peepal tree. He is seated in padmaasanam, the lotus posture. The calm and compassionate look on the face depicts the image of the ideal guru , spiritual teacher, in the Indian scriptures. The hand gestures show jnaanamudra, the sign of imparting knowledge and wisdom that dispel darkness (the Sanskrit term guru is a combination of gu, "darkness," and ru, "that which dispels"). The red color on the hands and feet shows the nail marks from crucifixion. They are the signs that St. Thomas, the Apostle of India insisted on as proof of Jesus's resurrection (Jn 20: 24-29). The equal-armed cross is presented in the form of a flower. The flame represents both Christ and the devotee alike; it is a reminder of two complementary sayings of Jesus: "I am the light of the world" (Jn 8:12) and "You are the light of the world" (Mt 5: 14). The two halves of a coconut, often placed at the forefront during religious rituals in India, is a symbol of self-sacrifice. The chalice with bread and grapes represents the sacrificial gift of Jesus in the holy Eucharist."
Alle G. Hoekema writes, in a review of The Poor Man’s Bible, that:
"Dr. P. Solomon Raj, a Lutheran theologian and creative artist from India … became a school teacher, then studied theology at Gurukul, Madras, served as a minister and as a student chaplain and after that fulfilled a wide range of positions in India, at Selly Oak, Birmingham UK and other countries before settling down again in his own country. In the meantime he published his PhD dissertation in Birmingham and was active in the Asian Christian Arts Association. Since a number of years he is the spiritual father of the St. Luke’s Lalitkala Ashram in Vijayawada, Andra Pradesh.
In the 1950s he discovered his gift as an artist, first specializing in linocuts and wood block printing (black and white, later coloured ones as well) and then also in designing batiks, and — though to a lesser extent — acryl paintings. Serving in the field of modern mass communication as a means of propagating the Gospel, he discovered the possibilities of using visual art in explaining the biblical narratives. Most of the art works which he published in separate booklets and books are accompanied by brief, often surprising, poetical meditations which remind one of the work of Rabindranath Tagore and others.
In an unpublished paper Solomon Raj himself speaks about the prophetic role of the Christian artist. Like prophets, the artist is an instrument of inspiration, a visionary and fore-teller who uses symbolic language. And, ‘he is aware of the problems in the society in which he lives, he speaks the vocabulary and the idiom of his time and he wakes up people of his day to some of the things that agitate his mind.’"
US-based Goan painter-scholar Jose Pereira has said that he sees himself "as a product of two traditions: one is the Latin-Christian tradition and the other is the Indian Hindu tradition." In order to bring to expression these traditions, he says he has had to do extensive research. In 2010 paintings by Pereira depicting Hindu Lord Shiva dancing with six naked maidens and Krishna in sexual ecstasy in the midst of several women were withdrawn from an exhibition of Pereira’s paintings at The Xavier Centre of Historical Research in Goa following threats by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (Hindu Awareness Forum) to decapitate the 89-year-old painter.
In 2006 Edwin Parmar turned a huge canvas into a monumental work of art in which Christ, Hindu gods and Indian traditions blend. He got the idea for this larger-than-life painting from a question: "What would be Christ's life if he had been born in an Indian village?" Parmar found his answer in a synthesis of Indian and western cultures. Thus, in his painting Mary wears a sari and Hindu God Rama interacts with Christ.
Susheila Williams "is the president of the Indian Christian art association. She is also the founder secretary of the Chitrakala academy in Coimbatore. The Indian Christian art association is an association of Christian artists in India. This association conducts workshops and organizes exhibitions of paintings. It also brings out a quarterly news letter called ‘Pratima’. Mrs. Williams founded the Chitrakala academy, in coimbatore in the year 1978 and from its inception this artists association has been functioning well. She underwent her training in New Delhi under Mr. Anand Micheal from the Michigan University. She travels extensively and participates in art exhibitions at the national and international level."
She "specializes in oil painting and terracotta sculptures. Her oil painting titled ‘THE SAMARITAN WOMEN’ adorns the pope’s official residence at Vatican. Some of her theme paintings on UNITY IN DIVERSITY have found its way into posters thus ensuring that the message has effectively reached the society. Her speciality is in using Christian themes in the Indian context so that the message of the scriptures is understandable and acceptable by the community."
The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India reported in 2010 that:
"A group of leading Christian artists in India under the initiative of the CBCI Commission for Social Communications has established a national network called the Indian Christian Artists Forum. Artist priest Dr. Paul Kattukaran of Trichur Archdiocese, has been appointed as the national coordinator for the Forum. Fifteen renowned artists from various parts of the country attended the first meeting of the Christian artists in India convened by the CBCI Commission at the CPCI Centre, Bangalore, August 4.
Those who attended the meeting included renowned artists and theologian Jyoti Sahi, Chennai based artist and former principal of Madras College of Fine Arts Mr. Alphonso Doss, former director of Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, and well known sculptor Robin David, Bangalore-based artist C.F. John, artist Edwin Parmar, Ahmedabad, Sr.Vincy, Bongaigaon, Assam, Fr. Roy M. Thottam SJ, Kochi and others.
The Forum is intended to bring together Christian artists from different parts of the country to foster greater collaboration and professional support and exchange. It intends to promote study and appreciation of Christian art among various sections of the people- clergy, religious and laity in the church, and the wider society in India, and to encourage a deeper understanding, appreciation and application of Indian Christian art in theology, liturgy and architecture in the Church in India."
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