PTI

London, April 13

Advait Kolarkar, a seven-year-old child prodigy from Pune, is hard at work for the first solo London exhibition of his vibrant paintings to be held at Gagliardi Gallery from next month.

The schoolboy, who is currently completing his collection for the exhibition, started painting while playing with food coloring at just eight months old.

His mother, Shruti, herself a visual designer, and his father, a software engineer, Amit, spotted a potential talent and handed him a canvas.

“The walls of our home carry Advait’s creative flair that comes in promising forms,” ​​Shruti told PTI, as the family prepared for their solo debut in London.

“He is thrilled and can’t wait to be in London showcasing his art and meeting new people. He is already dreaming and imagining how things will turn out. He has created a wide range of paintings for the show and is in the process of creating more,” the proud mom said.

According to her, Advait’s paintings incorporate stories born out of her vivid imagination. His canvas is covered in designs such as oceans and dinosaurs, etched with a range of tools – from brushes, rollers, spatulas to fingers and hands – as he enjoys experimenting with a variety of materials.

“These works tell a story filled with intuition and raw power. We see a glimpse of his imagination – a beautiful world where colors lead a path of discovery. The London exhibition will be a journey of intense creative moments and a magical, innocent world,” Shruti said.

Advait, who has exhibited his works in India and globally in the United States and Canada, is the 2020 winner of the Global Child Prodigy Award.

“I am delighted to welcome Advait Kolarkar’s first solo exhibition to London following the artist’s previous successes including New York ArtExpo, London Art Biennale 2021 and exhibitions around the world,” said said Peter Gagliardi, curator of the gallery which will present Advait’s works from May. 12.

“When Kolarkar learned to speak, colors dominated his vocabulary and by the age of two he could tell Naples yellow from cadmium yellow and burnt sienna from raw sienna. Today, his work will be featured in a solo exhibition of over 25 original works of art in the heart of Chelsea,” said Gagliardi.

After the London solo exhibition, Advait’s work is heading to exhibitions at prestigious events in Las Vegas, New York and Italy during this year. When he is not painting, the young artist enjoys reading and playing with his older sister Swara, whose creative activities lie in the field of creating caricatures and comics and writing stories.

“Advait loves reading and learning new things. He has already read all his textbooks, just like his other storybooks, even before the start of the school year. School is fun for him,” his mother shared.

“Painting and learning new things are two of his favorite activities. He studies quite easily and does his homework quickly, so he has more time to play. He did pretty well and passed with flying colors,” she said.