JOIN US...They run amok,
They kill without compunction.
They burn people alive,
Dishonour girls, put babies to the sword,
Without any sense of guilt.
They do all these because
They chose to erect walls
Where they should have fashioned ways
To that inner space
When they all could feel the same...
– ‘Gujarat 2002’ by K G Subramanyan
On the night of March 1, 2002, an attacking mob, armed with stones, swords, torches and sticks, swooped on Best Bakery owned by Habibullah Sheikh at Hanuman Tekri in Vadodara. In no time, 14 innocent people belonging to Sheikh’s family and bakery workforce were charred to death. The incident made national news; more than a decade later, the legal case is still taking many twists and turns.
Four-and-a-half years after the incident, Vadodara-based artist and art teacher, B V Suresh, mounted an exhibition titled Facilitating the Beast at Vadehra Gallery in Delhi. A grim reminder of the Best Bakery tragedy, the exhibit exposed the wicked face of communalism through a set of large paintings, installations, and mixed media prints. The most chilling visual import came from a set of burnt bread loaves arranged in rows of baking trays on the floor of the gallery.
“The 60 loaves of bread I used in the installation show were made at a local bakery,” recalls Suresh. “I did not expect them to last for more than a week or two. I thought they would disintegrate soon. To my surprise, most of them survived not just for weeks, but months... In fact, I have been able to save a few of them to this day by chemically treating them.”
Some of those burnt bread loaves which became a striking metaphor for the Best Bakery carnage reappear in a ‘mummified’ avatar (preserved in resin in miniature glass houses) in Suresh’s latest exhibition Chronicles of Silence (Sumukha Gallery, Bengaluru /August 29 — September 19).
Curated by well-known artist N Pushpamala, the show is a stark and highly engaging multimedia experience with dramatically imposing sculptural installations, flickering video images, glistening laser beams, chattering antique radios, flying feathers and crashing weights.
Through inventive visual and aural strategies, the artist has recreated a dark and politically charged milieu, unravelling therein the many hidden layers of human failing, deception and debauchery. The show also vindicates his concern and respect for the marginalised groups — be they the victims of sectarian conflicts or the humiliated and distressed farmers.
“In his role as an ‘artist-chronicler’, Suresh has collected and distilled memories of the unspeakable,” says Pushpamala. “His work reflects with anger upon the place of the farmers, the minorities, the dispossessed and the outsiders in our world today.”
Intellectual endeavour
B V Suresh (born 1960) studied painting initially at Ken School in Bangalore. He moved to Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University, Vadodara to receive his Diploma (1983) and Post Diploma in Painting (1985). A scholarship took him to London where he got his Master’s in Painting from the Royal College of Art (1985-87). In 1992, he joined the painting department of the Faculty of Fine Arts where he is currently an assistant professor.
Although trained as a painter, Suresh has over the decades engaged himself with multimedia forms and incorporated video, sound, sculpture, found material and moving objects in his work.
Unlike many of his peers, he remains nonprolific. His solo shows are rare; his process of art making is long-drawn and invariably rooted in a specific socio-political context.
“Art is neither a superficial object-making exercise nor an illustration of an idea that you put across for people to see,” says Suresh. “It is an intellectual endeavour and presupposes a deep understanding of the subject and the context in which it is located.”
He also believes that instead of straightforward reading, an artwork has to actually make the viewer think, reflect and even question. “When I was studying in Royal College, there were wonderful artist-teachers like Peter de Francia and Ken Kiff who opened up several things to me. Peter, for instance, emphasised that even a dot could suggest many meanings to the viewer. He made me realise that an artwork shouldn’t become literal... like a bird or a tree or a chair. Instead, an artist should put a language into it in such a way that people start questioning its meaning and significance.”
Suresh also credits his early training in Bengaluru and Baroda for his growth as an artist. “I think I have taken a lot from (late) R M Hadpad (principal of Ken School), who never believed in any form of hierarchy, and also insisted that we looked at other creative fields like theatre, cinema, music and literature, which was very important in our development as visual artists.
In Baroda, too, we had teachers like K G Subramanyan, Nasreen Mohamedi, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh and his wife, Nilima, who inspired us not just through their art, but also through their attitude, accessibility and association. Mani sir (Subramanyan) always emphasised the power of observing simple things in life. Even chopping vegetables, he would insist, was art!”
From teacher to students
With his background and experience, what does Suresh tell his students? “I tell my students that they can’t develop by just studying art history and earlier cultural practices. I encourage them to observe simple things in life and internalise them. After all, things by themselves don’t have any meaning. But, as an artist, one can provide a meaning to them and place them in a context.”
Why does his own art look so grim and dark? “I think it is important for an artist to respond to issues, enquire why things are happening in a particular manner, and ask uneasy questions,” explains Suresh. “My art could appear dark and disturbing; it may even anger some people. At times I may also be under the scanner. But I am ready to face any consequence. When you are doing what you think is necessary, you are also prepared for consequences.”