Interview: Bose Krishnamachari

On the Road to the Next Milestone, 2010. Installation view.

You have curated a section of Indian Highway, called "On the Road to the Next Milestone". What aspects of contemporary Indian art have you chosen to emphasise through your selection of artists and works?

It has been important to me to point out that India is a place of diversity, which I find is a quality. Just as every region in the country has its own way of looking at life, the artistic practices varies from region to region and even though the art scene is mainly centered around Delhi, Bangalore, Calcutta, Mumbai, and Baroda, there are also many locally based artists. Nevertheless, the artist community is very small, and therefore I am very familiar with what is happening all around India, and additionally I do a lot of travelling to stay updated. To reflect this diversity I have avoided a thematic curation, and instead selected eight artists who represent the idea of non-thematic curatorial event.

One of them is Shilpa Gupta, who is represented with the work A hundred maps. I find it is one of her best works. It is a video project about geography and the geographical awareness of the people, in which she has asked a hundred people to draw a map of India. Then there is a work by the sculptor, Riyas Komu, who is from my native town in Kerala. Kerala has a very strong literary lineage and it claims to have hundred per cent literacy. The Keralites are aware of literature from all over the world and also they are very familiar with socio-political thinkers like Karl Marx. Politically speaking, many people are inclined to the left wing ideologies.

A lot of the artists from this area is thus very aware of what is happening on the political scene, which is illustrated by Komu's work Left Leg. It deals with the current situation in Iraq, symbolised by their football team, and raises questions about success and failure in this context. I also find his work interesting because he uses traditional materials as well as the traditional crafts connected with these materials. As I see it, there is a tendency on a global level to go back to the traditional modes of representation, like painting and sculpting, and a tendency to flirt with the medium, which shows a renewed sensitivity to the physical act of making an art work, and I have picked out Riyas in that sense as well.

Riyas Komu: Left Leg Series, 2008. Variable dimensions. Wood, steel, concrete, and stone. Courtesy: Bodhi Art.

I am also interested in pushing the limits of art and keen on watching the interdisciplinary aspects flourishing in the scene of art. Many of the artists represented here started out as painters, myself included, but now I practically work in every medium. To reflect this I have chosen to show Avinash Veeraraghavan, who is originally a graphic designer, now making artistic digital prints with a psychedelic and schizophrenic touch. I love that kind of chaos, and when I pick out an artist I look more at their talent, their sustainability as artists, and their intellectual capacity rather than on what they have done previously.

Then I have also selected artists commenting on life in Mumbai. For instance the painter Prajakta Potnis, a very young artist. She is depicting these pastel colour interiors that look like European homes, but is likewise to be found in Mumbai. In her paintings they are added a kind of rust and roominess because of the perforation and decay of the walls - you can look through the peels of the colour. The thing is when you talk about Mumbai, it is all about surviving and it is all about construction as it is one of the most expensive places to live and to buy a property, and her works comment on that. Then there is Ananat Joshi, who refers to the chaotic life in Mumbai as a kind of hanging situation. He uses plastic toys which he melts into transobjects, then hanging them from nails, visualising a kind of suspended life situation - a suspended celebration or suspended failure and it is performative!

Anant Joshi: Untitled, 2008. Variable dimensions. Melted plastic toys, steel screws, and strings. Courtesy: Anant Art Gallery, Delhi.

Your own work on show, Ghost/ Transmemoir, also deals with Mumbai life, can you tell me about the intentions behind it?

It is one of my favourite works. It has travelled to different museums before coming here, and at each location I design it differently. As you say, it is all about the life in Mumbai and about the migration to the city. In the video sequences, people are telling about their passion to live and enjoy their life even though they also suffer, others are telling about where they originally come from and why they have come to Mumbai, and about their religion. Mumbai is like the bird Phoenix, no matter what happens, it raises from the ashes. Mumbai lives in the spirit of its people. After the terrorist attacks on the city, it went back to normalcy in two days. It is quite like Hemingway’s old man. You cannot defeat Mumbai.

Bose Krishnamachari: Ghost / Transmemoir, 2006-08. 108 tiffins and mixed media. Courtesy: Aicon Gallery, London & Dimitris Daskalopoulos Collection, Greece.

What is it like to be both a curator and artist?

I enjoy doing it. When I was a student, many other young people used to come to live in my studio and to learn from my collection of books. I am not a rich guy, but whenever I make money, I buy books and I also collect art to accumulated knowledge, and right now I am also planning to make a small museum in the state of Kerala, where I come from. It will start as a residency, and then it will expand into an actual museum, that will be ready in one and half two years time.

You have also recently opened a gallery...

Yes, it just opened in September. It is my idea to bring together international art with Indian art, and the first exhibition was a group exhibition with artist from five continents. Next time I will show my collection of books and DVDs about architecture and the different visual arts. This I exhibit as an educational project with political and philantrophic subtexts, while the third show is all about women; 26 young female artist from India.

Prajakta Potnis: After the Pressure Cooker Explosion, 2009. Each: 76,2 x 101,6 cm. Paper work, acrylic, and dry pastel. Courtesy: the artist & The Guild Art Gallery.

It must be a very interesting time in India right now?

Yes. Emulating the global experience of economic boom, India too flexed her financial muscles in the market, including the art market. During this period, people were collecting art indiscriminately. Now, with the economic slow down, the scenario is changed for good. Once again the serious collectors are back in the scene with serious and genuine intentions.

Thank you.

Sumedh Rajendran: Lower Ribs, 2008. 110 x 213 x 183 Wood, printed pewter plates, and rubber tires. Courtesy: the artist.