Artist Koilpitchai Prabakar went up to the terrace of his rented house in Perambur one morning and looked around. It was a typical Chennai motta maadi, with a view of similar terraces with peeling walls, clothes lines and potted plants as far as the eye could see. He then had an idea: why not turn this warm, comforting space into an art gallery? He did just that for his latest show titled Mottamaadi.
Koilpitchai studied at the Government College of Fine Arts, Egmore and has been showing his work from 2009 at various galleries in the city apart from places such as Delhi, Nagpur, and Coimbatore. “But the gallery remains a space that excludes everyday people,” feels the 39-year-old, speaking over phone from Chennai. “When I was a student and entered an art gallery for the first time, I remember being intimidated by it,” he says.
Today, nearly two decades later, he can still remember the feeling. “I have seen several upcoming artists disappear for lack of an opportunity to show at a gallery,” he says. Which is why he decided to host a show in his terrace as an experiment. “This is the second show on my terrace and I honestly do not know how it will turn out,” he feels. “But it is an attempt to show fellow artists that they too can do this. They can use their space for a show; or even a park for instance, with permission from the Corporation.”
Koilpitchai is from Tirunelveli and most of his work — he does acrylic on canvas apart from ceramic sculptures — reflect his landscape. “I document the changing phases of my hometown,” he says. For instance, the ‘thinnai’ culture, in which people spend long hours sitting on a friend’s verandah, talking or simply listening. “This is becoming a thing of the past since a lot of people are migrating to bigger cities,” points out Koilpitchai. “This may be for better work opportunities, or to escape oppression from the hands of dominant people in their village.”
He paints these ghost towns and their crumbling tile-roofed houses; the wells that are a farmer’s lifeline; just-tilled land with saplings facing the sky; whitewashed houses with vintage grilled gates. “My work is photorealistic,” says Koilpitchai. “What sets it apart from an actual image of the landscape is that in the painting, every thorn, every texture on a wall, every leaf has a bit of me.”
Mottamaadi is on till April 10, 6pm to 9pm at No 35, E-2, Subramaniam Road, Perambur. It is open to all. For details, call 8608834286.
