Kerala artist Tom Vattakuzhy’s shows in London and Paris reflect the frailty of the human condition

Tom Vattakuzhy was curious to see how his artworks, set in an entirely different cultural milieu, would be viewed at his recent show in Paris. He was indeed in for a surprise. 

As a selection of his paintings, Under the Changing Sky, was being installed at La Monnaie de Paris, widespread unrest unfolded across the city. What started as student protests had escalated, leading to arson and looting, plunging the city into chaos. 

Before he knew it, Tom found himself inside a supermarket as it was being looted. “It was frightening and disorienting, an experience I am still processing. I have spent years exploring uncertainty and instability through painting, but to encounter them so directly in life was something else entirely. It brought a new and unsettling immediacy to concerns I have long explored in my work,” he says.

Presented at The Third Space at Asia NOW Paris and curated by Valentina Rosas Saad, the paintings on display depict dramatic vistas where the sky has been painted in exhilarating tones. Through the three works on show, Tom explores the idea of the uncertainty of choosing a path while also seeking quiet reflection.

“For me, this is a reminder that paintings do not remain confined to the circumstances in which they are made. They travel, encounter new audiences and sometimes acquire meanings even the artist could not have foreseen,” he says from Paris.

The artist is also showing solo for the first time in London, at AstaGuru, as part of the Asian Art 2026. A collection of nine works, Shifting Ground, that opened on October 14, dwells on uncertainty and the fact that the very ground beneath one’s feet could turn unstable. 

Deeply moored in Keralam’s socio-cultural landscape, the works question the transitions that shape human lives. “It was particularly exciting to be in London as it was Frieze Week (October 14 to 18) when the show opened. That is when the city comes alive with art and some of the finest works from around the world are on view. I could see that people connected with my work. It is always encouraging for an artist,” says Tom. 

Tom’s paintings are deceptively layered, nudging viewers to explore what lies beyond. For instance, ‘Drift’, 60x72 inch oil on canvas, on display at AstaGuru, is set in a domestic space, with his characterisitc use of light and dark. The seemingly simple painting makes you want to go back to it and each viewing could shift your perspective a little.

A front porch of a home in the painting shows a child reaching for a pink balloon suspended mid air. A woman in a long pink nightgown looks on with a hint of amusement on her face, while a man sits on a low wall, lost in thought. A political poster with ‘Liberation’ written across it in bold red lettering forms the roof of the porch. An ideology that once promised to transform the world becomes the roof under which a family struggles to survive. 

Even as Tom’s narratives emerge from an Indian context, the questions they raise extend beyond it. Social observations and political undercurrents continue to define his works, but the artist says he exercises a certain “self-censorship” today. Tom courted controversy at the sixth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2025 when Christian groups raised objections against one of his works, Supper at a Nunnery, which they claimed was a distortion of Christ’s Last Supper.

The painting depicts Mata Hari, a historically documented Dutch dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during the First World War, surrounded by nuns in a setting that could be termed a reimagination of The Last Supper. “It was not intended to hurt anyone. My work has always carried humanism at its core. The nuns in the painting are tragic reflections of those who have been victimised and have lived their entire lives in a patriarchal system. And the central figure, Mata Hari, is a representation of grace under fire,” says Tom. 

The incident gave him much to reflect upon, says the artist. “How do we see religion? Is it just an establishment that exists externally? Has it lost its core essence? Have we lost space for  open dialogues?” he wonders. 

Tom sounds restless. Unrest of the silent kind.   

Presented by the Institute of Indian Art, Shifting Ground is on till November at AstaGuru London. Under the Changing Sky is at The Third Space at Asia NOW Paris till October 24.