Bose Krishnamachari has painted a long fabric which was cut out to form swimsuits for the Kingfisher calendar models. He spoke to Divya Kaushik
Just a few months ago, he was in news for painting a Nano, which went under hammer and was sold for `13 lakh. The hand-painted car was called Maximum Nano and was auctioned to fund the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF). The genius who painted the vehicle bright and brilliantly was Bose Krishnamachari, the artist known for abstracts. Recently the artist contributed to the making of the Kingfisher calendar. The swimsuits the models wore were based on his famous series Stretched Bodies. He painted a long fabric which was then cut out to form swimsuits for the girls. The artist has never believed in setting boundaries for himself and he loves doing different works. “As a creative person, if I don’t open up my views and beliefs then I would essentially be just mimicking things. Ideally I would like to inhabit interdisciplinary creative cases,” he said.
He told us that the collaboration with the Kingfisher calendar was the result of a call from Atul Kasbekar, who did the creative shoot for the calendar. “I am familiar with Atul’s earlier works and the Kingfisher calendar shoot. He said, ‘You are the first artist that I am approaching for KF calendar shoot,’ and he wanted to use my Stretched Bodies abstract series. Atul and I share a long relationship when it comes to art. He had collected a couple of my abstract paintings and later introduced my work to Sachin Tendulkar who got in touch with me and collected a large Stretched Bodies painting,” Bose added. Stretched Bodies is about the primary academic awareness on abstract school of thinking and practice. “Through this series I have explored maximum colours, forms, textures, lines and accidents during the process of construction and deconstruction in the given space. I believe in the co-existence of extremities in work and life. I believe that the colours of maximum gave swimsuits strength on the naturally sculpted minimalist bodies of women.”
Art on objects, textiles has been a popular trend. Bose said, “Sarabhai owned Kalico Museum in Ahamedabad is a fantastic textile Museum and is among one of the best in the world. I believe that aesthetics cannot be taught but experienced. Taste cannot be taught but imbibed. Design is everywhere but neither realised nor read by the irresponsible eyes. We have fantastic wealth of craftsmanship but do we care for and respect art and cultureIJ Our country hardly spends anything for the promotion of art and culture. The official spending for art and culture in the country is 0.2 per cent of the national GDP! It’s a shame that our foreign and domestic policy makers and planning commissions do not realise the value of soft power or its diplomatic and creative wealth and strength. I would like to make art bus stops, art-public restrooms, art-gardens and I have a desire to design museums and maintain them.”
He informed that China is on a museum building spree. “In 2011 alone they built around 390 museums. Saadiyat Island in Abu-Dhabi is spending billions of dollars to build concert hall, contemporary art museums and cultural spaces. Countries in the Middle-East are spending billions of dollars in buying art while we disregard our cultural heritage, let alone contemporary art,” he added. After reading about the concept of Wang Shu’s Ningbo Museum in China, Bose is eager to meet the architect and experience the museum.