How many of us have not plotted points on a map on websites such as Tripadvisor or Facebook, showing all the places around the world that we’ve ever been to?
Artist and UAE resident Rashid Pilakkal takes that idea one step further, distilling the essence of his travels into Foreign, his exhibition of work at the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates.
“Travel inspires me a lot,” he told Emirates 24|7. “All the experiences and the people I meet when I travel motivate and inspires me to paint.”
The result is a show he calls a venture into one of the last fields of pure aesthetic concern, synthesising content and form through wild abstraction and careful distillation, and the 25 pieces on display reflect his desire to shatter boundaries and conventions.
The colours in each painting represent a city he’s been to, so a visit to this exhibition turns into an interesting challenge for the literal-minded viewer.
And although he has only been to Nepal, Thailand, Singapore and Australia, the Indian artist steers clear of documentary images, preferring to work with abstracts.
“I want to challenge the viewer’s perception by juxtaposing hallucinatory flashes with a mystic and haunted world, to showcase the prime paradigms of the adventure of abstraction – to see or not to see,” he said.
The artist uses layers of oil and acrylic paints, ballpoint pens and other materials on wooden boards. A recurring motif is the circle, which he has said symbolises “my inner world”.
Pilakkal’s works range from Dh7,800 to Dh14,000.
Foreign by Rashid Pilakkal, organised by Vindemia gallery, runs at the Aspen Café in the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates until August 22.