City Lost and Found

‘Public Art Intervention in a Private Space’ remains the core of this show. Kumar says,“I travelled through Mumbai for a couple of days in March with an open mind. I observed,heard and felt the city around me. After marking some relevant sites of the city,I started my work at the gallery. There I created these drawings that were later documented on the city’s walls.” The artist expects the viewer to first have a one-on-one interaction with the paintings on the gallery’s walls. When the visitor sees the simulations of the same designs on the city’s walls,he/ she begins to see the city differently,thus reconstructing it in the mind. Kumar hopes that once viewers see the slideshow of the simulated murals,they will explore the city — wall by wall — and rediscover the urban sites that have become so mundane to them.

To simplify the idea further,take the life-sized drawing of an elephant. The elephant is fearless and a carrier of flesh,mass and weight. When the same elephant is seen in the video across a crumbling wall in the city,it gives the impression that the elephant is crushing the brick wall. The idea behind this: To let the public to allow the drawings to guide them through the city and make them look at it differently.

The other images include an elaborate work of a spirited beast reaching out with one claw in the air (an ode to the desire to fight and to live),a horizontal ornate drawing of clouds and a thrilling trajectory of a bird falling from mid-flight. Kumar,originally from Delhi,calls himself “a visual storyteller”. Having lived in Mumbai for a long time,he says that it is the ultimate site for visual reconstruction. He adds,“When I say Delhi,you have an image of it in your head that comes from memory. The aim of the exhibition is to clear these inherent images and start imagining the city differently. And what better place to do this than in Mumbai — a place with such a fast-paced life that most things become routine in just a matter of hours. Mumbai’s scope for reconstruction is immense,which is why it was so apt to work with this motif.”

When asked about the name ‘Message to Zero’,the artist explains that it is inspired by The Storyteller by Walter Benjamin. “When people see these works,they ask me about the idea behind making these drawings and simulating these images. Initially,it upset me. Why is it necessary to always have a message behind a mural? I realised that today everyone wants quick facts,news and data. No one really has the time and patience for a story.

In this collection of works,there is zero propaganda or message,” he says.

The exhibition is on at The Guild art gallery,Colaba,till June 29. So far,the response has been encouraging. “People have actually gone to these old walls and corners of the city to look for designs,and called me up to ask where they are,” he says,adding,“The fact that they rediscovered their city through the drawings is gratifying. This is exactly what I had wished for.”