N S Manoharan

An artist who challenges the dominant style variations of Modernism and Postmodernism by
presenting themes like rural scenes and domestic animals in linear figure compositions and
drawing, N.S. Manoharan has over the years moved mediums from watercolors for landscapes
of Kumbakonam to oils and acrylics, and to charcoal and pen and ink. This offers a chance to
explore the stylization of forms through cross-hatching, value gradations and the oppositions of
negative and positive spaces.
Born in Kumbakonam, Manoharan completed his DFA at the Govt. College of Arts and Crafts,
Kumbakonam and PGDFA and MFA at the Govt. College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai. He
received the State Level Student Award (1979) from the State Lalit Kala Academy. He also
received an award from the Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi based on an exhibition in 2000.
While his work has been shown at numerous shows at Chennai, Trichy, Kumbakonam, Mysore,
New Delhi, Bangalore, Singapore, Karaikudi and Mumbai, among others,he is also the senior lecturer at the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kumbakonam.
His works are in the collection at the NGMA (National Gallery of Modern Art), New Delhi, the State Lalit Kala Academy in Chennai, Governor’s residence at Meghalaya, Chennai Customs
Office, Andaman & Nicobar Art Society, and various private collections in India and abroad.