J. KALIDASS

Bio

Kalidass, a remarkable artist with Singaporean-Indian origin, has purposefully indulged in the attempt to identify a delicate sense of spiritual synchronisation, through an almost entirely personal statement in the form of visual manifestations. This, he has achieved with the help of sculptural images of Gautama Buddha (hereafter referred to as ‘the Buddha’), the founder of one dynamic social, religious, spiritual, personal-political, philosophical phenomenon.

Indeed, Kalidass has tastefully taken the liberty to project his inspirations from conventional and historic sculptures of the Buddha, within paintings of a monochromatic or earthen palette, complete with a surreal energy that will instill a sense of ethereal awe within the viewer. He achieves this with the manipulation of optical illusion to juxtapose the individual ideas that his images are endowed with.

Born in 1974, Kalidass received his initial formal training in the art of painting at LASALLE College of the Arts (Singapore). However, he credits Mr Wee Shoo Leong – a senior artist in Singapore – for his unplanned but fundamental entry into the realm of oil painting. Kalidass is armed with a Bachelor in Contemporary Art from the University of Tasmania (Australia) and has exhibited his artworks in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Korea and Hong Kong. In 2010, Kalidass’ creative career was officially launched via his first-ever solo art exhibition with The Gallery of Gnani Arts. It is noteworthy that, in 2012, he was invited by The Gallery of Gnani Arts to be featured in a television programme entitled Destination Art (Channel News Asia), whereby he travelled to Kumbakonam (an ancient temple town of Tamil Nadu, South India) to work with traditional and modern sculptors, in order to create contextual paintings as an aftermath of the trip.