Encapsulating his trysts with dyslexia, dyscalculia and ADHD through chaotic arrangements and bold abstract expressionism, Pallav Chander’s artworks have always been a visual representation of his life. His ongoing virtual show, The Organisation of Chaos, displayed by APRE Art House and curated by Prerna Jain and Ashwariya Khemka, is no different.
“My works are my subjective perceptions of the society, but not a judgement or a commentary on it. They don’t have a singular meaning, rather, open for viewers’ to draw their own interpretations,” says Chander, 30.
The Organisation..., he informs, has been curated to tell a story, “where at Chapter 1, I pay a tribute to my home”. As we move ahead, we encounter varied emotions, grief as well as greed, wherein the society is critiqued in the artist’s semiabstract works, “with a touch of satire”.
Chander is deeply inspired by Vincent van Gogh as is evident in his works that use bright, vivid colours and chaotic motifs to evoke raw emotions of inner disquiet and angst. “One must be genuine to his art, no matter what galleries or other artists say. I have seen many young artists bending towards others’ expectations. Not me,” he says. “Your own originality will keep you steady in the long run,” he adds. Born and brought up in Delhi to parents who are artists (his mom also taught at the Delhi College of Art), Chander was drawn to art since childhood, but “I was bad at painting, and this is what triggered me to learn the medium”.
After schooling (Apeejay and K R Mangalam), he flew to Birmingham City University, UK for his Bachelor of Art (BFA). “The teaching system there focuses on individuality. I had great teachers, but I learnt more from the student community. Since my mother was spending a lot of money on my education, I wanted to utilise every penny on learning more. The college helped me perfect myself.”
Back to Delhi in 2012 after completing his BFA, Chander began his professional journey “as an artist and a theatre actor-director-composer- writer”. As he says: “I have two parallel careers - painting and theatre. I have been into theatre since early childhood, and have trained under Amal Allana.”
Chander organises annual plays for city schools. “But I don’t write those because I am dyslexic, so I speak and my friends’ put it down in words.” He has had numerous g roup shows across the country and the UK. A recipient of the Junior Fellowship by the Indian Ministry of Culture (2019), he has had three solo shows so far, Decoding A Dyslexic Mind at Visual Art Gallery, New Delhi (2014) and Life Must Have Its Mysteries at Art4All Gallery, New Delhi (2017) and Tomorrow Belongs to Me (2019) at Alliance Francaise. For Chander, theatre and painting are not separate airtight compartments. “I treat my canvas like an extension of my stage, by painting layers upon layers, and compose my painting as though I am directing a play,” he says.
TILL: June 26 AT: aprearthouse.com/ viewing-room/