Canopies and calligraphy, domes and decorative motifs… pots and coffins, burns and bullets… Riyas Komu entwined them in his recent show, with what seems to be an unending column - of religion and rivalry, piety and predation. The show at Mumbai's Sakshi Gallery in April-May, was called 'Faith Accompli', a title that had a smell of dreaded dreams and doom. Komu drew home the quandary of the debate over faith and power. The culture-specific forms that Komu conceptualized had the strength of addressing the universal. Komu's visual language attained new oratorial heights.
Komu's language has evolved with empathy toward objects which are closer to life (or death). It has not only valued precision and perspective but also materiality and measure. It has been with Komu since he was a student. Be it the red pots and photo frames or the use of tarpauline in "he used to believe EMS planted all the coconut trees in Kerala" (1998), his later engagement with watching news channels to distill the most evocative faces of commoners who have to bear the brunt, and the later experiments with the 'garage boys' at Borivli (also a part of his photographic work), who once facilitated his use of motorcycle parts that suggested a deconstructed human body. Lately, Komu used metal forms that directly denoted a religion or a party. These works form the base of his current language, where volume is as important as content. The size and repetition that adds to the volume were never used so directly by Komu, before 2005. In the current show, 'the Third Day' the scale of tin walls competes the frightening prison-cells, while the oversized, heavy wooden communion chalises evoke assurance and suspicion alike. The decorations on the canopies reach disturbing hights. ' My Fathers' Balcony' takes the myth of Noah's Arc in its stride. The repetition of red coffins and charred, holed pots make a high-pitched demand for something more than a second or a third look. The blood-red, coffin-shaped forms on the wall sport the sheen of a car you (wanted to/) own, and as you watch the' Tragedy of a carpenter's Son', your eyes feel the pale- cold touch of bare galvanized tin with its occasional corrosions.
With such content that intrigues the intellectually honest and commands emotional reflex, Komu has always been a polemicist. In the previous years, he took on the overlapping tasks of an interpreter, interrogator and advocate. Oratory comes with volume and pitch, which he has obtained now. Will this quality lead him to a major public art piece or will he be content with galleries and biennales, remains to be seen.
- abhijeet tamhane.
Komu's language has evolved with empathy toward objects which are closer to life (or death). It has not only valued precision and perspective but also materiality and measure. It has been with Komu since he was a student. Be it the red pots and photo frames or the use of tarpauline in "he used to believe EMS planted all the coconut trees in Kerala" (1998), his later engagement with watching news channels to distill the most evocative faces of commoners who have to bear the brunt, and the later experiments with the 'garage boys' at Borivli (also a part of his photographic work), who once facilitated his use of motorcycle parts that suggested a deconstructed human body. Lately, Komu used metal forms that directly denoted a religion or a party. These works form the base of his current language, where volume is as important as content. The size and repetition that adds to the volume were never used so directly by Komu, before 2005. In the current show, 'the Third Day' the scale of tin walls competes the frightening prison-cells, while the oversized, heavy wooden communion chalises evoke assurance and suspicion alike. The decorations on the canopies reach disturbing hights. ' My Fathers' Balcony' takes the myth of Noah's Arc in its stride. The repetition of red coffins and charred, holed pots make a high-pitched demand for something more than a second or a third look. The blood-red, coffin-shaped forms on the wall sport the sheen of a car you (wanted to/) own, and as you watch the' Tragedy of a carpenter's Son', your eyes feel the pale- cold touch of bare galvanized tin with its occasional corrosions.
With such content that intrigues the intellectually honest and commands emotional reflex, Komu has always been a polemicist. In the previous years, he took on the overlapping tasks of an interpreter, interrogator and advocate. Oratory comes with volume and pitch, which he has obtained now. Will this quality lead him to a major public art piece or will he be content with galleries and biennales, remains to be seen.
- abhijeet tamhane.
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This Artcile appeared in Art News Magazine of India, popularly known as "ARTINDIA"
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