Chi Su Krishna Setty’s lifetime works enthralling

Chikkanayakanahalli Subbaraya Setty renowned as Chi Su Krishna Setty has displayed his lifetime works in an exhibition titled ‘The Realm of Manifestation Krishna Setty: A Retrospective’ at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in the city. The exhibition is worth visiting for multiple reasons while the works on the show can be aptly described as nothing less than enthralling.

From the entrance to many a gallery: As mentioned earlier, lifetime drawings, sketches, paintings, acrylic works, murals, and sculptures among many a other varieties have been rolled upon right from the entrance to the number of galleries, pathways, staircases and walls made available for the exhibition. Prof Babu Jattakar, Faculty Member-College of Fine Arts in Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishat, who has been keenly following the art path of this septuagenarian artist is highly appreciative of his care and concern in preserving his artworks intact even for over a half-century! He asserts-“Some of the drawings or sketches in the exhibition are way back even from his college days. This sort of dedication and commitment is worth replicating for the present generation”.

Choice of colours mesmerizing: Well, Chi Su Krishna Setty is well known for most of his works remaining untitled and the objects he is fond of and depicts in most of them like fish, snake, hand, and chair resembling his own thoughts and meanings. Veeresh Patil, a Bengaluru-based senior artist is carried away by the choice of colours in the acrylic works-“No doubt, Chi Su Krishna Setty is a senior and experienced artist more specialized for his abstract paintings. But what impressed me a lot was his choice of colours in the acrylic paintings. They are nothing short of mesmerizing”.

Earlier images now have multiple meanings: Chi Su Krishna Setty makes his own introspection of the images he has been making use of in his works, their meanings initially and now over a period of time-“Initially I used many images as metaphor and symbols as a snake for unfulfilled sexual desire, hand for a political party, chair for power, dead fish for common man etc. But over the years they surpassed their limitations and became generic to powerfully express multiple meanings. That’s why most of my works are untitled”.

Images changed their positions: He also admits-“Initially my images had certain definite meanings. But over time they changed their positions, like in the play of chess. Their power also changes, which may be contradicting other works. Because of my experiences, images suitable to my expression come into my works. Learned viewers are independent and free to connect in whatever way they want on their own to reinvent stories”.

A world of dreams: Prof Ashrafi S.Bhagat, Art Historian opines-“Though intellectually inclined, in this recent suite of works he delves within the subconscious to dredge out subject matter that unconsciously links to his immediate environment, becoming the protagonist dictating creation of narratives that are essentially encounters with his interiorization of experiences that reflect the dystopia of society, culture, environment and many other related issues…
…In this large corpus of works he offers an art, which is performative of a world of dreams and fantasy with imagination weaving forms that have a greater degree of surreality that belongs to the realm of non-normality. His visual language is not realistic but quasi-abstract forms that are visually earthy and heavy, the works are mainly rendered in ink and coloured pastels particularly to create an eerie feeling and in small format on paper. It appropriately manifests a world of dreams and fantasy which translates as an inner space that in the imaginative realm assumes monstrous and bizarre forms”.

Love textures and patterns: Chi Su Krishna Setty feels-“I have worked in almost all mediums including printmaking, in some drawings I have used only pen and ink to convey my expressions. Being a printmaker I love textures and patterns along with stylized images”.

His works can be posited with postmodern discourse: Prof Ashrafi S.Bhagat adds-“As regards the corpus of works, it should be noted that his works can be posited within postmodern discourse, particularly the idea of ‘appropriation’ which had gained currency and wide acceptance within the culture of American artistic praxis and its institutionalization with names as Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Eva Hess et al who today are iconic ubiquity. Within this narrative Setty’s compositions and certain imagery resonates with works of certain Indian artists as Bhupen Khakkar, R.B. Bhaskaran, J. Swaminathan, or S.G. Vasudev…

…Through appropriation, a sense of contribution of this discourse (Postmodern) presents itself in his works, premised on ‘what’ and ‘how’ Setty has intervened to arbitrate in his engagement. Thus derivatives or appropriations legitimatized in his works through the postmodern discourse. Further the lack of titles was a conscious approach adopted by the artist as another dimension of postmodern sensibility allowing the death of the author to evoke multiple meanings through the perception of the viewer.

From subconscious without any logical thinking: Chi Su Krishna Setty signs off-“Though I use many images symbolically, I don’t want to restrict the thinking of my viewers. My purpose is that by seeing my works each viewer should create his own stories, which may not all be mine. Further, the works are not preconceived and I never plan. When I sit in front of Paper or canvas some images come to my mind and I start with it. Then one after the other images jumps from subconscious without any logical thinking. Because of my experience, images suitable to my expression come into my works”.

-Manohar Yadavatti