Cutting 'chai' on canvas

Street life is the muse for Nilofer Suleman from Bangalore, whose first solo in Mumbai titled ‘Suleman Chai’ is on at the Art Musings Gallery from October 14 to November 7.

“This is my chai toast. It is what I was brought up on,” she says of her titillating, naughty and at times garish portrayal of everyday characters and places.

Suleman was a psychology major, art teacher and vintage cartographer before turning to painting. “I start by taking photographs of bazaars, trucks, autos, gullies, shops and signboards through which I can relate to the idiosyncrasies of the typical Indian scenario,” she said.  She is fascinated with  the small guest house that boasts ‘common beds available’, or the rickshaw that says ‘trust a snake but never a girl’ or the latest Tamil semi-porn movie poster on Bangalore corporation walls that is titled ‘Body of influence’.

“We find it easy to appreciate the excessiveness in Gustav Klimt’s art, but are oblivious of the stunning excessiveness at the back of a truck. Similarly, cinema posters and god paintings in shops go completely unnoticed. Before I start a new painting, I visit several
local cobbler shops, fish stalls, barbers, pooja stores, bus stops and immerse myself in that world,”  says Suleman.