Violent love story playing at art gallery near you

Sulemani Chai is artist Nilofer Suleman's debut exhibition that presents Chinamma and Jayaram's love story, movie-style. Enter lech Tiger Murugesh and seductress Kanan Bala, and you have a potboiler on your hands

One look at Nilofer Suleman's work and you are captivated by its startling portrayal of our everyday world in technicolour. From the Royal Fantasy Paan Center (owned by Paan King Manoharlal Rambo) to Josy Kuttis Genuine Eggs (that sells "Hygenecally Healthy Newly Laid Eggs 24x7"), it's all there in Suleman's exhibition of her latest works.u00a0

A painting that tells us movie-style stories, requires a lot of action on canvas. Subtleties convey the humour in our banal existence, so, look out for shop hoardings, signage and notes to customers. An attention to detail comes naturally to Suleman, thanks to her previous experience as a cartographer and miniature artist. "When I decide to paint a paanwala's shop, I take pictures of as many such shops as I can find, to capture the essence of the place. I'm fascinated by the unintentional wrong spellings and double meaning lines. There's a naivete to all of this which is endearing," smiles Suleman.

As an artist, Suleman received technical training in Western and Indian miniatures, and spent seven years sketching maps, recreating and making new miniatures. Over the years, she got tired of the technicality. "I realised that creativity begins when technicality ends. Instead of aimlessly copying Western art, which is getting solemn and morbid, why not look at Indians who are inherently vivacious. If our world is made up of fluorescent greens and ceruvian blues, let's be gung-ho about it," Suleman declares.

At: Admiralty Building, Colaba Cross Lane, Colaba.
Call: 22163339 / 2218.
Till: November 7.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels