Impressions, The Art Club of The IIT Alumni Center

The genesis of Impressions

The first two lines of Hippocrates’s Aphorisms, read "ars longa, vita brevis" which explicitly mean "art is long, life is short". True. Leonardo Da Vinci continues to live through his creations. Much the same way, Michelangelo, D.W. Griffith and Beethoven live through their creations. The aesthetic appreciation of art is a rich experience in itself. The IIT Alumni Center – through its Art Club - Impressions, organizes various exhibitions and sales that showcase the paintings and sculptures of renowned Indian artists.

A starry-eyed launch

Impressions was launched on 2nd October, 2013 with an art show by Padmashri Dr. Thota Tharani. The celebrated artist exhibited a select mini-retrospective titled ’Inspired By Life’. The show was attended by art lovers and enthusiasts, who were enthralled by his works.

Padmashri Dr. Thota Tharani interacting with art enthusiasts

Revisiting the history of modern Indian art

The Arts and Culture series presented two sessions on 20th Century Indian Art conducted by local art collector, Pradipto Mahopatra. In his first session, he introduced the Bengal Movement, an influential art movement and a style of Indian painting that originated in Bengal and flourished throughout India during the early 20th century.

In his next session, Mr. Mahopatra shared interesting details about the Bombay progressive, the most influential group of modern artists in India, formed by Francis Newton Souza and S.H. Raza, and of which M. F. Husain and Manishi Dey were early members.

Pradipto Mahopatra conducted two sessions on 20th Century Indian Art

Promoting women artists

An Art and Craft Mela held in November 2013 exhibited the creations of three talented women artists: Lalitha Ramanarasiah, Ramaa Narayanan and Abirami Jawahar. Their contributions range from abstract painting to paper crafts.

Abirami Jawahar at her handicrafts stall

Women's day art show

Women's Day 2014 was celebrated with an Art and Sculpture Exhibition that focused on yoga and meditation and featured the works of noted women artists such as Thara Ganesan, Kamla Ravikumar and Isaiarasi.

Thara Ganesan is an artist, sculptor and curator, who also wears many other hats as a bilingual poetess, translator, short story writer and literary critic. Her style is unique and she merges emotions with the force of the five elements - Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Ether. Kamla Ravikumar qualified in Art and Interior Design from Mumbai, and is presently an artist and art instructor.

Isaiarasi is a young upcoming artist from Chennai. Isai exhibits for this exhibition have been paintings from her series titled AKASH. From forms to formlessness, creating, dissolving, recreating is the expression of an artist.

The sculptures depict various postures ( Asanas) of the "Suryanamskarâ" in Yoga. There is one continuous sequence of the "Chakrvakasanaâ" depicted in her sculptures through human figures. Mudras in Yoga which can benefit the body are also depicted through life size hand sculptures. There is a two feet height Buddha sculpted in Bronze. 

Art and Sculpture exhibition by noted women artists 

Memberships open!

Becoming a member of the IIT Alumni Center is easy and we’re here to guide you through the process. As a member, you not only get to participate in these events but also enjoy a wide range of elite facilities, and above all, connect with your old friends and make new ones.

Membership is open to alumni and faculty from all the IITs across India.

For club bookings, call us at (044) - 4553-4441 / 4553-4409.

To enquire about or apply for membership, click here.

Visit us: www.iitalumnicenter.org