Art exhibitions that offer an eclectic mix of “you name it we have it” are not uncommon in the city, which has now grown relatively attention-deficient towards artists crawling out of the woodwork every other day, looking to hitch a ride in the boom bandwagon.
Art exhibitions that offer an eclectic mix of “you name it we have it” are not uncommon in the city, which has now grown relatively attention-deficient towards artists crawling out of the woodwork every other day, looking to hitch a ride in the boom bandwagon. But the one curated by Bose Krishnamachari on his birthday on July 30 stood out in that, as it showcased raw talent, showmanship, commercial interest, and, of course, a dash of tolerable boredom - all under
one roof.
SPY, promising to explore the voyeur’s mind, looked deceptive as a title to the whole show but then that was perhaps the closest chase Bose could give to highlight the best of commonness among the four artists, C K Rajan, Prasad Raghavan, Dia Mehta and Simran Mehra.
Rajan, the Hyderabad-based master of collage, lived up to the epithet and displayed how a daily passion for collecting newspaper photo clippings can do to his own art practice and also the discerning viewer who gets to enjoy with delight those mixed metaphors in small frames.
“Strain your eyes to catch the light of my wisdom” seems to be a justifiable demand by the artist who has exhibited his work this year at Documenta, one of the world’s most prestigious exhibitions on modern and contemporary art held every fifth year in Kassel, Germany.
If Rajan enthuses with the subtle irony and voyeurism in his works, Prasad Raghavan, the Delhi-based advertising professional and movie buff, dazzles with his “clear and direct” film posters — the titles are picked up from some of his favourite international films like The Thief of Baghdad, Gods Must Be Crazy, Kieslowski’s A Short Film About Love and so on, but the content and style are his own.
The Thief of Baghdad shows US president George W Bush in a burglar’s mask in a Mesopotamian setting. The poster entitled Sacrifice lines up some very famous world leaders — who preside over the destiny of millions — such as Vladimir Putin, alongside a laughing Albert Einstein. Morphed, below their noses, they all sport an Einstein moustache and tongue-stuck-out smile.
Though it cannot be completely said that Raghavan is a breakaway from the usual mould of ad hands in his style and substance, the poster he had designed for his film club, A:Door, I Block, Chittaranjan Park, New Delhi, which has won him a Cannes Lion, offers hope; he has the smarts as evident in the way he introduces himself, “I am Prasad, I live, watch movies and make posters in a basement.”
Artist Riyas Komu said, “As a professional, the societal pulse is always his material and he tends to get obvious because of his abiding interest in reaching out to the masses. Still he is cool in an Andy Walholian sense.”
By featuring artists Mehta and Mehra who though didn’t come out as inspiring as expected in the exhibition which drew large crowds and got an instant warm response, Bose, the birthday boy, proved there is more to SPY than meets the eye.
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