ALPHONSO A. DOSS

Bio

“Every time I actually approach a canvas, I am face to face with a paradox. I must paint at one go.”

Alphonso Arul Doss was born into a Christian family in 1939 in Bangalore, where he spent his childhood years and attended St. Joseph’s School. His involvement with church-related activities growing up was a strong influence on his art. “Looking up at the stained-glass window of a Gothic church, I found myself dazzled by the light transformed into patterns. The contours and colours attracted and motivated me to look at creating forms like a gemstone reflecting many facets.” (Artist quoted in Sujatha Shankar Kumar, “Six Decades of Art,” The Hindu, 10 March 2014, online) Indeed, his works are known for their deliberate blank, white spaces of canvas deliberately left out to mimic the passage of light through precious stones.

Known to his friends as ‘Reverend Doss’, Alphonso Doss has throughout his life demonstrated a great interest in spirituality and the different world religions. This interest transpires through his paintings subject matters that represent at times Christ, at others Buddha, and different Indian divinities such as Shive Nataraja, the Hindu Lord of the Dance.

Doss received a Diploma in Fine Art from the Madras Government College of Arts and Crafts, of which he was later the principal from 1992 to 1997. Like his peers, he was taught to observe and learn from European art and realism. However, his portraits and depictions gradually evolved to combine Indian themes with Western stylistic techniques, such as in his reinterpretation of Rembrandt’s painting Christ And The Woman Taken In Adultery – Doss’ version was more abstract and portrayed Gandhi at a temple. The artist’s oeuvre explores and redefines the history and idiom of religious and classical painting, inspired by temples, churches, palaces, museums and artists across the world.

Restricted to a colour palette of olive green, shades of brown, and primary colours, Doss’ canvases are created by applying wet oil paint loosely so that the colour is not opaque. His process is rapid, with quick outlines and untouched areas. In his pencil and charcoal works, he creates refraction and a unique play of light and shadow by following a specific method. “I never erase. In a figure drawing of a youth when something went wrong, I created textures and shades that overlapped. But I did not erase any line.” (Artist quoted in Kumar)

Alphonso Doss conceptualised and played a role in establishing the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chennai in 1997. He lives and works in Chennai.