For his first solo, UK exhibition, Bose Krishnamachari explores the psyche of the 'average Mumbaikar' and the society in which he/she exists in a series of new, multi-disciplinary works made for Aicon London. Whilst Krishnamachari is known internationally for his series of bold abstract paintings entitled 'Stretched Bodies', this new exhibition presents his wider practice, confirming him not only as an artist, but also a partaker and practitioner in the far wider cultural-social discourse.
Krishnamachari says that behind the face of the average Mumbaikar 'is an ocean of anxieties that have arisen from the everyday question of acceptance'. Focusing sharply and enlarging every nuance of feeling and expression, the five large-scale portraits from the Mumbaikar series map onto grids the appearance of their subjects, marking down, enlarging, and archiving those intangible emotions and experiences they portray. Those portrayed form part of the household staff from the artist's private residence, acknowledging Krishnamachari's Keralan (and Communist) origins and recognising and recording not only their existence, but also their individuality and concerns.
While the Mumbaikar portraits dizzy and embarrass with their giant scale, 'Ghost / Transmemoir' is a giddying installation of 108 used tiffins (or dabbas), serving to frame video loops showing interviews with a multitude of Mumbai residents from all levels of society. The piece functions as a multi-faceted portrait of Mumbai, a city where the dabba plays a central role in the daily ritual of delivery of 'home cooked' food. Filled each day by housewives, the boxes are collected, exchanged and re-exchanged until they reach their owner on time for lunch. Collectively, the installation literally vibrates with the chaotic order of the city, whilst individually the dabbas portray the thoughts, frustrations, religions and emotions of the strata of their individuals.
Signalling Krishnamachari's involvement in the current, international discourse concerning the role of the museum within society is a series of architectural drawings and a maquette depicting an idealised vision of a museum. Bose believes in the traditional ideal of the museum as a repository of knowledge, and that art has an inherent "intellectual usefulness" which makes the act of instituting a museum a sacred one, and he is currently designing and building his own museum in Kerala, to house not only his own art collection, but also those of international collectors.
Bose Krishnamchari will be Guest of Honour at the ARCO '09, Madrid, curating the India Pavilion there.
Bose Krishnamachari: Ghost
10 July - 12 August
Aicon London
8 Heddon Street
London
)
)