At Koilpitchai Prabhakar’s exhibition space
| Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
Artist Koilpitchai Prabakar’s mottamadi (terrace) transforms into a gallery every summer. The walls are whitewashed, and bright light bulbs are brought out. He, along with a few architect friends, does up the place with recycled material such as jute fabric and cardboard rolls to enhance the display.
Anyone interested in art can walk into this 600 sq ft terrace of his rented house in Perambur for Mottamadi, his solo show which is now onto its third edition.
This year, the 40-year-old has presented 15 acrylic paintings and ceramic sculptures as part of the show inaugurated by filmmaker Pa Ranjith, his senior in college. The focus has primarily been on houses in and around his hometown— Tirunelveli, besides other such structures in the nearby towns of Paramakudi and Thoothukudi.
Artist Koilpitchai Prabhakar
| Photo Credit:
JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
Building a home
Koilpitchai is known for the realistic portrayal of rural houses with particular attention to the mugappu or the elevation. “These houses tell a thousand stories. I document their mugappu as it usually is the first thing that people notice in a house,” he says.
Many of Koilpitchai’s painting show ghost houses, with the inhabitants long gone to bigger cities in search of a living. “I have met people living in sprawling houses unable to even meet their daily expenses,” he says..
The artist especially recalls a particular house in Paramakudi that had a tulsi pot at the entrance and a bathroom right behind. “The window was covered with bricks since people there thought it was not prudent for a toilet to be near a tulsi plant, which they considered sacred.”
Koilpitchai also speaks of another house in Idaiyangudi that he had long wanted to document. On an expedition to take pictures of the place, the artist ended up surprised.
“It was an old house with whitewashed walls. But when I got there, they were painted pink. The house was all decked up for a wedding. There were heart-shaped cut-outs, and the bride came out to enquire what I was doing there,” he recalls.
It had just stopped raining and the air was pleasant and chilly, he says. Though the artist did get his picture, it was not of the staid old structure he had assumed it was. “This time around, the house seemed to have taken on a romantic mood,” he laughs.
Inspiration
“I do not have anything against art galleries,” says the artist, who studied at the Government College of Fine Arts, Egmore. He has gone on to showcase some of his work with prominent names across the country. “But galleries recognise only certain people as artists,” he says. Most artists get the opportunity to exhibit regularly only if they ‘become a brand’, he says.
Through Mottamaadi, Koilpitchai hopes to inspire other artists into believing that any open space can become a gallery. “They can choose to display their work even at their balcony or verandah,” he says.
Mottamadi is on at 35 E-2, Subramaniam Road, Near Vinayakar temple, Perambur, 6pm to 9pm, till April 14. For details, call 8608834286.
Artist Koilpitchai Prabhakar’s ceramic sculpture
| Photo Credit:
JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
