Chandrakant Prajapati's Paintings Do for Landscape Art What Photography Cannot

The artist opened his solo show at the Art Gallery of Amdavad ni Gufa, reintroducing in the city his inventive 3-dimensional method of painting.  

Artist Chandrakant Prajapati spent most of his time, in his earlier days, immersed in making realistic paintings of landscapes using watercolour. But with time, he strove to paint his subjects in ways that could not be replaced by photography. He lent abstract details to his paintings. To impart them with a “3D effect” of depth, he used acrylic on Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) casting. In Prajapati’s description of his current artworks, he says, “The strokes combined in these paintings now look like roofs of mountainous homesteads, camouflaged in fog.”

This inventive method, of acrylic on FRP casting, is being reintroduced by Prajapati for the fourth time in Ahmedabad. His solo show of 25 abstract works opened at the Herwitz Art Gallery of Amdavad Ni Gufa on February 13, 2018, in the presence of veteran artists Amit Ambalal, Manhar Kapadia, Natu Mistry and others.

Prajapati pursued his formal art training in 1995 from The New Progressive College of Teachers’ Education in Mehsana. From there, he continued his journey as an independent artist, while delegating time to inspiring young students towards the visual arts. Currently, he teaches art at an architecture college.

Also an adroit sculptor, Prajapati has presented three works of art of a perfect anatomy. The most promising feature of the show is the Ajanta–Ellora sculpture that takes centre stage, with its enticing carvings. Prajapati, who is working on the subject of the Bodhisattva Padmapani, has borrowed inspiration for this sculpture from the murals in the caves of Ajanta-Ellora. Beautiful art from these murals is drawn all over the relief structure of the body.

The show is open for all who are looking for inspiration, till February 18, 2018, every day from 04:00 pm to 06:00 pm at Herwitz Art Gallery, Ahmedabad.