An uncountable number of men, women and children, in varied attires and multiple expressions, against a white backdrop are sitting on chairs in rows in a uniform arrangement. They are waiting — some patiently and some restlessly—for a speech to begin. It is the title, ‘Come Give Us A Speech’, that gives away the mood of this giant 6X36 feet oil on acrylic painting. However, on a closer inspection, viewers will find several characters from mythology and even an alien merge seamlessly in this homogenous crowd that artist NS Harsha created in this 2008 artwork. Apart from giving his figures cartoonish appearance, which is deeply influenced by his love for comics, the Mysore-based artist is well-known for adding a dash of humour to his works.
This artwork is part of an ongoing mid-career retrospective titled, “N.S.Harsha: Charming Journey” at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo that has stitched together a narrative featuring close to 75 works from his 25 years of artistic journey, and offers a broad understanding of his practice. In the curatorial note, Kataoka Mami, chief curator, writes, “The word journey of the exhibition title hints not only at the life of the artist himself, but also at various other journeys including the political and economic development of India, the parallel changes in different communities as well as changes observable in the daily lives of people… a biological scientific worldview to an astronomical or cosmic scale.”
While he draws from everyday life and events and weaves them into a universal language, Harsha admits that he always looks at “a small event or object that has the capacity to expand into the cosmic scale.”
“All it needs is an artistic vision,” he adds. Elaborating on his process of translating an idea into visuals, he says, “When I observe everyday life, I am interested in how a mundane event can become ‘one’ with cosmic reality, one in which we all exist. I resist ‘ideas’ because they can become sensational. I wait till the idea dissolves into a state of meaninglessness. Then I start playing with paint… in time a painting gets done.”
Another prominent insignia of his draughtsmanship is his preoccupation with large canvases and installations. For instance, in his installation ‘Nations’, (2007) Harsha used 193 Usha sewing machines overlaid with calico painted flags signifying the countries that make up the United Nations. Looking at the socio-political turmoil engulfing the countries worldwide, this work isp particularly relevant in today’s time.
“As we all know this planet has a history of thousands of years... so should we not be conscious about the thousands of years ahead of us too? Shape and form of future can be debatable. But future of matter is stable. This work dwells with these thoughts. Today’s situation is that nation exists because nations exist,” he says.
The inner voice
Recipient of the coveted Artes Mundi prize, the only Indian artist to win this award, he candidly admits that his “large works are not driven by ambition but by the pure urge to meet the necessities of the inner voice.” Through his works, which also include community work, Harsha has looked at the larger picture and put in a universal context to add layers to contemporary narratives of life. And, adding wit and sarcasm is his way of making social commentary on things or issues that are often buried under the carpet.
“Humour is a beautiful device nature has given us. It is not a manmade thing. It is an integral vision which can bring light into the dark thoughts that humans tend to develop periodically.”
Apart from his artworks, he also ran a workshop for children in Tokyo. Titled, “Night Landscape”, the concept was inspired by the city’s night view, and the focus was to bring out children onto the streets to experience the night landscape.
As the retrospective is coming to a close on June 11, ask him what else he will be bringing from Japan other than memories, pat comes the reply, “I like to travel light in life, so I don’t carry many things. But the one thing I would like to incorporate from Japanese culture is fineness of things. They celebrate precision and balance very beautifully; I would like to learn more in this area,” he says.
