Chennai artist hosts present on his terrace

Artist Koilpitchai Prabakar went as much as the terrace of his rented home in Perambur one morning and seemed round. It was a typical Chennai motta maadi, with a view of comparable terraces with peeling partitions, garments strains and potted crops so far as the attention might see. He then had an thought: why not flip this heat, comforting house into an artwork gallery? He did simply that for his newest present titled Mottamaadi.

He works with acrylic on canvas
| Picture Credit score: Particular association

Koilpitchai studied on the Authorities Faculty of Fantastic Arts, Egmore and has been exhibiting his work from 2009 at varied galleries within the metropolis other than locations similar to Delhi, Nagpur, and Coimbatore. “However the gallery stays an area that excludes on a regular basis individuals,” feels the 39-year-old, talking over cellphone from Chennai. “After I was a scholar and entered an artwork gallery for the primary time, I bear in mind being intimidated by it,” he says.

Koilpitchai paperwork his panorama
| Picture Credit score: Particular association

Right this moment, almost twenty years later, he can nonetheless bear in mind the sensation. “I’ve seen a number of upcoming artists disappear for lack of a possibility to point out at a gallery,” he says. Which is why he determined to host a present in his terrace as an experiment. “That is the second present on my terrace and I actually have no idea the way it will prove,” he feels. “However it’s an try to point out fellow artists that they can also do that. They’ll use their house for a present; or perhaps a park for example, with permission from the Company.”

Koilpitchai is from Tirunelveli and most of his work — he does acrylic on canvas other than ceramic sculptures — replicate his panorama. “I doc the altering phases of my hometown,” he says. As an example, the ‘thinnai’ tradition, during which individuals spend lengthy hours sitting on a buddy’s verandah, speaking or just listening. “That is turning into a factor of the previous since lots of people are migrating to greater cities,” factors out Koilpitchai. “This can be for higher work alternatives, or to flee oppression from the fingers of dominant individuals of their village.”

Koilpitchai Prabakar
| Picture Credit score: Particular association

He paints these ghost cities and their crumbling tile-roofed homes; the wells which can be a farmer’s lifeline; just-tilled land with saplings dealing with the sky; whitewashed homes with classic grilled gates. “My work is photorealistic,” says Koilpitchai. “What units it other than an precise picture of the panorama is that within the portray, each thorn, each texture on a wall, each leaf has a little bit of me.”

Mottamaadi is on until April 10, 6pm to 9pm at No 35, E-2, Subramaniam Street, Perambur. It’s open to all. For particulars, name 8608834286.