Hole point of it

Societal concerns echo in Baadal Nanjundaswamy’s art, as the young artist believes this is how he can give back to the society. “And enjoy my art at the same time,” says the artist in reference to his latest social endeavour with CRY. The artist recently showcased his work at Forum Mall in Koramangala to celebrate International Day of Happiness. By depicting two children engaged in normal activities like playing and painting, Baadal wanted to draw attention to the less fortunate ones, who couldn’t. CRY is a not-for-profit outfit working for child rights.

Such collaborations are a norm for the artist. Last year Baadal Nanjundaswamy had partnered with Rotary Club of Bangalore in their campaign against distracted driving. A small film was made with his art work for the purpose. Last week, a college in Kerala asked him to paint in its premises. How could Baadal not respond to the horrific killing of Madhu Chindaki, who was beaten to death by a group of people for allegedly stealing rice in Kerala? Paint he did but not sadly. He resorted to the literal translation of the deceased’s name - Madhu in English, honeybee, two of them, hovering over a sack of rice. “I didn’t want to paint a tragedy and make people feel sad however, I wanted to get the point across,” says Baadal.

When he is not collaborating with organisations, Baadal takes on issues, independently, something Bengalureans are often witness to. The city, really is his canvas. Broken roads, potholes attract his attention and to get the authorities to notice, Baadal plants sculptures, live installations and paintings around it. In 2015, his sculpture of a crocodile in a pothole made BBMP fix it in no time. That also earned Baadal the title of crocodile artist. Have things improved in all these years?

“Only the main roads have become slightly better but apart from that it’s still the same with potholes, broken roads,” expresses Baadal.

As Karnataka goes to polls in May this year, I am tempted to ask Baadal about any plans of an art work related to it? “It’s a tricky thing. If I do something on elections, I will be labelled as a political artist. They will say I belong to A,B or C party. Some years ago on Independence Day, I had painted tri-colour on Richmond Road. Now, the situation is such that I have to think 10 times before I paint something like this. We have no freedom,” says the artist who studied art at Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (CAWA) in Mysore.

The day we spoke, Baadal said, he will have to come up with a subtle yet nuanced dig at it and by next day, something had emerged in Manorayana Palya. On a cement slab kept to cover a pothole, he had painted a game of chess with NOTA written on it. Next on the cards is a rhino inspired to trigger a conversation around ecology following the death of the world's last male northern white rhino in Sudan, recently. He is looking for an appropriate location.