BH Srinivasa Prasad's work, Someday All This Has To End displayed at GallerySKE, reflects his understanding of the inevitable urban shift.
Changes in our immediate environment can often leave us crumbling or disturbed, and artists are no different. If road-widening and the gradual concretisation of the city irks you, so it did BH Srinivasa Prasad, who divides his time between Bangalore and Sagar. His work, Someday All This Has To End displayed at GallerySKE, reflects his understanding of the inevitable urban shift. He is one of the artists shortlisted for the Skoda Prize.
“At my ancestral house, a sparrow would build a nest between the hollows of the roof tiles, today one hardly sees the bird,” says Prasad of the idea behind his concept. Huge thorny bamboo nests speak of the apparent disappearance of the bird. It isn't just that; through this, he is exploring what he calls a cycle, “One day everything will stop and start afresh.” The only constant is change itself.
One among the 20 short-listed, it isn't something new for him, in fact, he says, “I always get selected, and it makes me happy.” But, “I am disappointed that it never moves ahead from there.” Working with naturally available objects like hay, brick, and cow dung, this time around, he hopes he will be able to get into the top three or even be first.
The Skoda Prize is a first-of-its-kind platform for visual artists. The call for submissions was announced back at the end of August. Visual artists had one month to submit their work. A total of 169 applications were received, of which 28 were from Karnataka, mostly from Bangalore.
Of the 20 shortlisted artists, the four from Karnataka are BH Srinivasa Prasad, Anup Mattew Thomas, Kiran Subbaiah and A Balasubramanium. The names were announced last Thursday in Mumbai.
“All four work in different mediums, and project the diversity of the practice,” says art critic, Girish Shahane, who is also the head of the advisory committee for the Skoda Prize.
“Anup Mattew traces the history of Syrian Christians in Kerala through his photographs in an ironic way - making them amusing, yet profound,” says Shahane, speaking about the distinctive styles of each artist. “Srinivasa Prasad's use of organic material stands out.”
A Balasubramanium who works with white, Shahane says, “There is a meditative quality in his work and purity in his sculptures.”
While these 20 short-listed artists will be featured in The Skoda Prize catalogue, that isn't enough. Competitive in spirit, each wants to finish first. “I am happy, but now there will be tense moments spent until the final list is announced,” says sculptor Kiran Subbaiha, who was nominated by Mumbai-based gallery Chatterjee & Lal for his work Sleepwalker Daydreamer.
Each work has an individual theme, whether it is a tongue-shaped knife, or a metal oval head with a tightly knotted “brain”, the string is passed through rollers that signify the lips. “His work is technically polished yet ironic and amusing,” says Shahane.
He called the four “exciting artists”, whom he believes have a chance to make to the top.
The final three artists' artworks will be exhibited in New Delhi. The winner will be announced in January and shall be awarded Rs10,00,000, apart from earning the prestigious title of Skoda Prize winner for the year 2010-2011.
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