Cheenu Pillai
Encyclopedia
Cheenu Pillai is a self taught artists from chennai
, India
who blends European expressionism with dravidian themes.
He kept pursuing art with passion all his life, but never considered taking it up as a career. For a consistent topper at school, the only career choice seemed like a white collar job, which is exactly where he ended up. He did his MBA and got into investment banking. Emerging opportunities in information technology led him shift career midway, but art continued as the primary passion. His inspirations heightened during his stint in Europe, where he regularly frequented art galleries.
in 2003, he decided to take up art more seriously and quit his job as the president of a large software company. He continued doing some consultancy works in software, but was able to spend lot more time in painting.
Apparao galleries included Cheenu's works as part of a group show in 2004. Again in 2007, A.v.ilango's art space and Tangerine art sponsored an exhibition of his paintings from the divinity series at the tangerine restaurant, which gave him the initial impetus.
, orphism
and Indian sensibilities in terms of color schemes and layouts.
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
who blends European expressionism with dravidian themes.
Career
Cheenu Pillai was born in 1971 in a village in Tanjore district. He spent his school days in his village and then in Tanjore. Cheenu took to painting at very early age, thanks to his elder brother who was artist himself. Brought up in a pious background, portraits of gods used to be his favorite theme. At that age, his rendering of the religious images fulfilled purely a spiritual need. But as he delved more into the forms, the symmetry and balance in the Hindu iconography captured his imagination.He kept pursuing art with passion all his life, but never considered taking it up as a career. For a consistent topper at school, the only career choice seemed like a white collar job, which is exactly where he ended up. He did his MBA and got into investment banking. Emerging opportunities in information technology led him shift career midway, but art continued as the primary passion. His inspirations heightened during his stint in Europe, where he regularly frequented art galleries.
in 2003, he decided to take up art more seriously and quit his job as the president of a large software company. He continued doing some consultancy works in software, but was able to spend lot more time in painting.
Apparao galleries included Cheenu's works as part of a group show in 2004. Again in 2007, A.v.ilango's art space and Tangerine art sponsored an exhibition of his paintings from the divinity series at the tangerine restaurant, which gave him the initial impetus.
Style
Cheenu has evolved a unique style of representation which is hybrid between European movements like cubismCubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
, orphism
Orphism (art)
Orphism or Orphic Cubism , the term coined by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, was a little known art movement during the time of Cubism that focused on pure abstraction and bright colors influenced by Fauvism and the dye chemist Eugène Chevreul...
and Indian sensibilities in terms of color schemes and layouts.