Metamorphosed journey: Krishna Setty

A retrospective exhibition is a time for looking back, retrace the path taken, identify the junctures when the works shifted direction and introspect at the possible routes that could have been taken. Above all, it is a journey of several decades summed up. In this journey the artist is never alone; he is constantly shaped by his time and his experiences. This is very evident in the case of C S Krishna Setty’s life and work as well.

One of his earliest experiences was that of the Emergency during 1975-77, when he was still a student at Davanagere School of Arts but was politically active. He was the state secretary of ABVP and jumped into the JP (Jayaprakash Narayan) movement. He took part in many protests against imposition of Emergency by the Indira Gandhi regime. He was arrested under MISA and was shunted from one jail to another, before ending up in Bellary jail. The atrocities, cruelty and torture he witnessed during this period, his experience of human avarice for power and the suffering that ensued, have manifested in some of his early etchings and continue to haunt his work even today.

His works have also been shaped by the pedagogical canons of art schools which valued rigorous academic training, that is, developing an ability to keenly observe objects, landscapes and people and draw them in a realistic manner; a belief in retinal experiences. Expectedly his student day works and initial works follow this trajectory of faithfully documenting the seen world. But he quickly moved away from this mode of representing reality and changed direction – a surreal tone took hold of his work in these years. Around this time surrealism had been sweeping through the Karnataka modern art scene and several of Setty’s contemporaries were creating surrealist works. This was also the time when Kannada navya (modern) poetry was replete with surreal imagery and metaphors. All these clearly had an impact.

In his later works, as he moved away from obvious surrealist influences, his human forms became generic, at times morphing and melding into animal forms. However, simplification of the human form and distortions to invoke specific emotional responses, have remained a constant. Works increasingly became suggestive and carried together images that were fragmented and organized like a collage, invoking unreal, absurd reality.

There are certain leitmotifs which appear again and again in his works through the decades. The chair is one such image which has been used in various works with different connotations. Some works he did just after Emergency depict a chair as a metaphor for authority, with a hand placed on it, as an allusion to the party in power. In many later drawings and paintings, similar chairs appear as an analogy for power, suggesting varying degrees of authority. In the large sculptural installation floating in the mirror pool of NGMA, the image became an unstable stack of chairs alluding to politicians and parties vying for power. In some works, the chair has been combined with human figures wearing a crown, which seems to be another synonym for authority.

Similarly censorship, human pain and suffering have also been depicted and suggested in many works. These attributes find graphic depiction via torture and pain in some of the post Emergency works. This has continued in his recent sculptural installations created with ready found materials, especially which of the torso tied up in thread and the head choked with dark coloured fabric: a metaphor for helplessness and loss of agency.

There are several other themes that have been explored repeatedly in his works over the years: forms which allude to phallus and vagina in multiple ways, accompanied by animal and bird forms, all of which suggest carnal desire. In some works partly animal/bird forms and partly human forms mingle to imply savage proclivities. These can be read as creation and death, sexuality and mortality depending on how the forms metamorphose. Incidentally, these are themes that have been deeply dealt in Kannada modern poetry.

The use of linearity in numerous ways is another element which flows through the works. They define a form, separate areas, and also create the background depending on the usage. Wriggly lines manifest as sperm in some works and as serpents in many others. The line becomes a prominent motif in non-figurative works as well. Often it creates a substrate on which the colours are laid, or in other cases, line breaks ending as an act of mark making. In many others it becomes an exploration in gestural application of colour. In some non-figurative work such texture building leads to forms which look like rock formations, stones with inscriptions or fossils which are floating in the air defying gravity.

Often the same form/mark takes on different meanings depending on other forms within the same frame. A red splash of colour used in a painting which depicts a man holding a knife becomes a violent marker but a similar mark used in an abstract painting emphasizes a certain space by creating a colour anomaly.

One work in the show which is text based, reads in Kannada ‘Kaasiddare Kailasa’ (it is possible to reach the pinnacle – Kailasa- if there is money). For an artist who is also an art writer, this presents an interesting dimension. The downside of a text-based work is that it cannot be read by viewers who do not know the language. On the other hand, for them, it is another abstract element.

There were many works in the show which give a glimpse of other trajectories that his works could have taken. A work which depicts a wheel loader in photo realism is proof of his realistic rendering skills as well as the direction that some of his contemporaries and later artists took. There is also a work which looks like an image embedded in a film roll. It anticipates Meadiatic realism which became a prominent trend in Indian contemporary art in early 2000s. One wonders what would have been the outcome if Krishna Setty had followed any of these trajectories further. But the strong belief held by artists of his generation that art work should not be narrative or illustrative must have worked in the background for him to tread the path he did.

Art writing in Kannada is abysmal when compared to English. There is no effort to build an eco-system where the visual sensibility of a large audience is so enhanced that it can propel them to visit art exhibitions and museums. This lacuna was filled by his art writing in Kannada. As a critic and writer he made it his mission to document and comment on exhibitions that happened in Bangalore. For 15 years his weekly reviews would bring home to the reader his take on the contemporary art scene. While doing so, his attitude of looking at the work was never censorial or judgmental; rather, it depicted a critical view but never claimed to be the final word. This didn’t mean that he shied away from calling a spade a spade either, but there was gentleness in the way he recorded his criticism. Kannada writing on art is enriched because of his writing and editing contributions.

The 1980’s was a time of movements in the Karnataka art scene. There were many artist- led initiatives, such as KalaMela and Kalayatre, which energized the art field. The first was a five day get-together of artists from across Karnataka, accompanied by exhibitions, seminars, discussions. The second was a touring exhibition, which visited all the districts of the state. Krishna Setty played a pivotal role in both, and they changed Karnataka’s art landscape. Added to this, his lecture tours on art across Karnataka were instrumental in spreading awareness about modern art trends shaping the works of younger artists.

As chairman of Karnataka Lalitakala Academy he mooted many programmes and as administrator of Central Lalitakala Akademi he initiated many historic programmes. One was a Print Biennale which has become an important mile stone in Indian art calendar. The second event was a conclave of art writers writing in vernacular Indian languages, an event proposed and coordinated by this author. In more than 50 years of the Akademi’s history, this was the first and only such initiative to bring together vernacular art writers. In his capacity of heading both these institutions he offered grants for art students to visit Kochi Biennale and India Art Fair in order to increase exposure to local artists. Even after completing his stint at the Akademi he has been part of many trusts, advisory boards and panels, and continues to play a significant role in shaping government policies on art.

Much like his work, the many diverse roles he wears - as artist, writer, organizer and art administrator - coalesce into one other, forming a harmonious whole.

Ravikumar Kashi