Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi: Contemporary sculptor Prithpal Singh Ladi, who has created waves with his futuristic stone monuments, steel dragonflies and frog torsos, is coming to the capital with his first solo show in 10 years on October 15.
Born in Shillong in 1955, Ladi studied sculpture at the M S University in Baroda. He was conferred the National Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) Award and the Gujarat LKA awards and won a scholarship to Ecole Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris.
He later taught at the School for Architecture, Ahmedabad, and the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi.
The show, presented by Gallery Threshold, will feature sculptures in gemstones, glass, metal and other materials.
The works of 53-year-old Ladi exhibit his penchant for the eccentric and the bizarre. They reflect his constant struggle to reflect his personal life.
His lone sibling suffers from Alzeihmer's disease and his family shuttles between Munich and Shillong. "For nearly 10 years, everything that I loved was put on hold because I had to take care of the family," he said.
Almost all his works - which have a slight autobiographical tinge - is a tribute to the suffering of a family member. But his imaginative use of new materials redeems the works from being a personal indulgence.
Through intricately detailed dragonflies with thin delicate wings and frog torsos, mechanical devices like an antique typewriter, animals made of old battery cells crudely joined together and limp human figures in postures of obeisance, Ladi imbues his shapes with a morbid humour that connects to the viewer.