This show, arranged by Visual Art UK at The Bhavan Centre, aims to provide a visual treat to Shrinathji devotees. Artist Trilok Prakash Soni also intends to pay tribute to the genre of Pichawai painting tradition, his own family’s tradition of painting, and, no less importantly, to Shrinathji.
As an artist who has carved a niche for himself in the realm of traditional genres, he loves to re-embark on the Krishna imagery and showcases this beloved God’s Shrinathji incarnation.
Trilok handles the traditional art of painting as a heritage. He adopted the tradition as it was handled by his father, a celebrated miniature painter himself, Shilp Guru Shri Badrin Lal Chitrakar.
As a young practitioner, Trilok gained expertise in painting in various stylistic manners. At home, he underwent hardcore, extensive training, including a rigorous and lengthy practice in material procurement and production, as well as a rigorous practice at every stage of painting.
Trilok’s forte lies in the Pichawai form of Krishna paintings, and he devotes much of his emphasis to depicting the same. Moreover, the genus of Pichawai paintings that he has chosen for himself differs significantly from the oeuvre of his father or other artists in his family. Although he has never undergone formal academic training in painting, the traditional techniques he learned in the workshop of his father and elder brothers have successfully shaped his current art practice.
While he occasionally experiments with the subject and compositional settings, he does not tamper with the aesthetics and traditional grammar of Pichawai paintings. His restrained intrusions have never compromised the essence of the Pichawai painting tradition.