WONDER WALLS

Street art in India is altering our urban landscapes, but is it all a radical makeover or just cosmetic makeup?

- Shaikh Ayaz

The crime rate was once high in Kannagi Nagar, a once-derelict corner of Chennai. "No auto driver would go there. It just wasn't safe," says street artist Joyston Christopher Vaz. Lately, however, the neighbourhood has a newer, somewhat disparate reputation. After a slew of public art projects gave the district an ambitious facelift, Kannagi Nagar has begun to attract many a curious spectator, eager to capture an Instagrammable moment.

Joyston Christopher Vaz, better known as Jcvaz, is the creator of The Game, a mural on the façade of a residential building in Kannagi Nagar. At first glance, the artwork appears to be a psychedelic cacophony, but look closer and you'll find that Vaz has used his art to penetrate the area's very fabric and its arguably murky modern history. His is the art of the big picture.