M. Senathipathi was born in Chennai in 1939. He received his Diploma in Drawing and Painting from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai, in 1965. In 1988 he received a British Council grant to travel to London, France, Holland, Belgium and West Germany.
Senathipathi is known for his representations of Indian Gods and Goddesses. Though he leans on Indian mythology for his subjects he infuses them with the spirit of the human by rooting his works in contemporary times. It is this amalgamation of two diverse qualities that creates a sense of drama and infuses the works with a fresh perspective. The artist is also versatile in using metal relief for his subjects. The artist lives and works in Chennai.
An artist is a product of his time and place. K.C.S. Paniker’s vision gave southern artists a sanctuary at Cholamandal Artists Village. We must necessarily view the development of. Senathipathi in this space that empowered the Madras Movement, a distinctive core of modern South Indian arts practice set in a specific time period. Since Independence, artists were looking to establish their own identity, a noted departure from the earlier anonymous Indian craftsperson. There was also the pressure to merge or be distinct from Western forms of expression. At Cholamandal, the ingenious seclusion planned out by Paniker, pushed the artist to the edge, forcing him to find the source of what drives him, right from
his physical existence. It was this incubation that nurtured the free and willing spirit of the artist, to go to his blank canvas, metal sheet, or carving stone to make it his own. The constraints of this liminal experience with its brass tacks support pushed artists to seek their answers, free of all the shackles imposed by society. He has to build his own settlement. make his own studio, and however hot, however distant, however sparse, here he becomes totally responsible for his expression, truly accountable for his art.