Pseudorealism

The computer simulated images are now capable of amalgamating varied scenes and situations which may not actually exist in reality. Such images though look real and hence capable of making the viewer believe in their reality, are actually unreal. The impact of such unreal but real-looking images is immense on the modern day viewers. With the advent of free internet, uncensored movies, the viewer is exposed to such images constantly and this is capable of changing the perceptions of viewers. A new generation is emerging which takes computer-simulated sceneries as real and lives a large part of its life in cyber space. It is this believable unreality which is called Pseudorealism. Pseudorealism as a word was used in the 1990s to describe American science fiction movies by American film critics. Today the word is no longer used for criticism as most of what is shown in films is created with the aid of computers, with or without any reference to reality at all. Pseudorealism is thus a part of our lives today. Indian artist Devajyoti Ray uses this concept to create a new genre of art apt for our times. The style involves the use of arbitrary colour schemes and simple geometric shapes in apparently realistic scenes. The arbitary colour schemes and structures make the scenes unreal, yet the overall composition remains comprehendible and believable. Most of Ray''s works show vibrancy, even though the subject matter in most scenes is not necessarily happy. Thus pseudorealistic art is a

The computer simulated images are now capable of amalgamating varied scenes and situations which may not actually exist in reality. Such images though look real and hence capable of making the viewer believe in their reality, are actually unreal. The impact of such unreal but real-looking images is immense on the modern day viewers. With the advent of free internet, uncensored movies, the viewer is exposed to such images constantly and this is capable of changing the perceptions of viewers. A new generation is emerging which takes computer-simulated sceneries as real and lives a large part of its life in cyber space. It is this believable unreality which is called Pseudorealism.

Pseudorealism as a word was used in the 1990s to describe American science fiction movies by American film critics. Today the word is no longer used for criticism as most of what is shown in films is created with the aid of computers, with or without any reference to reality at all. Pseudorealism is thus a part of our lives today.

Indian artist Devajyoti Ray uses this concept to create a new genre of art apt for our times. The style involves the use of arbitrary colour schemes and simple geometric shapes in apparently realistic scenes. The arbitary colour schemes and structures make the scenes unreal, yet the overall composition remains comprehendible and believable. Most of Ray''s works show vibrancy, even though the subject matter in most scenes is not necessarily happy. Thus pseudorealistic art is a commentary on modern day age where technology can decide the mood of an image in a believable manner without actually being faithful to the reality.

Pseuorealism as genre of art involves the study of colours and their interactions and hence is said to be an extrapolation from Fauvism, Pointillism and Op art. Whereas in Fauvism, as started by Henry Matisse, colours were put arbitrarily, and in Pointillism, as in Seurat, the colours were put in a more synchronistical fashion, in Op art, as of Bridgette Riley, the colours and their capacity to enhance or subdue each other were studied to the fullest extent. In Pseudorealism the same study of colour continues but here they are used to create realistic images.

SUDHARTS