‘My works do not stop at the visual level and every viewer becomes a serious thinker. He creates his own story according to his perceptions and questions the society in his own way.’ Krishna Setty
With roots deep in the subconscious, Krishna Setty creates narratives that have been dredged out of his experiences, reflecting a dystopian society. His solo show at Art Houz, Chennai, titled Real and Ethereal bears this out, with 71 works rendered in ink and coloured pastels on paper. ‘I chose pastels and ink on paper to give an eerie feeling. In some drawings I have used only pen and ink to convey my expressions. Being a printmaker, I love textures and patterns along with stylised images.’ The term ‘ethereal’ as a binary to ‘real’ is a misnomer when affiliating his narrative and visual language, for ethereal connotes airy and insubstantial forms or a utopian realm of perfection, while the artist presents a dystopia where nothing is in order.
This story is from the June - July 2019 edition of Arts Illustrated.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June - July 2019 edition of Arts Illustrated.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
A Sky Full Of Thoughts
Artist James Turrell’s ‘Twilight Epiphany Skyspace’ brings together the many nuances of architecture, time, space, light and music in a profound experience that blurs boundaries and lets one roam free within their own minds
We Are Looking into It
Swiss-based artists Jojakim Cortis and Adrian Sonderegger talk to us about the evolving meaning and purpose of photography and the many perspectives it lends to history
Faces in the Water
As physical ‘masks’ become part of our life, we take a look at artists working with different aspects of ‘faces’ and the things that lurk beneath the surface.
The Blueprint That Never Was
Sarah Winchester, wife of William Wirt Winchester who popularized the ‘repeating rifle’, built a sprawling mansion with no blueprint, in order to escape the ghosts of her past.
Into the Wood Work
The wooden craft of toy-making from Varanasi finds new life through ‘Lattu’ as Kaushiki Agarwal reimagines them with contemporary utilitarian designs
Expressions in Red
With the play Lal Batti Express, the Krantikaris showed us quite powerfully that ‘what we perceive it to be from the outside – the stigmas we buy into – they are not their truths’
Distorted Patterns, Multiple Meanings
Evocative visuals and distorted recollections are bound together in the dance of memory that teases us with sharp glimpses and blurry edges, while retaining the essence of emotions associated with them
Open-Ended Beginnings
Swiss-French photographer Hélène Binet, best known as the leading architectural photographer who still insists on shooting analogue, spoke to us about the ambiguous nature of photography that extends into her practice
A New Slant
The celebrated series ‘Transparent’, about crisscrossing lines of identity, bows out with a rich symphony of emotions that hits elegiac notes but is ultimately pitched to please
PAN Asia Festival
The recently concluded 10th anniversary edition of the PAN (Performance Art Network) Asia Festival, centred around the theme ‘A.L.A.R.M. – Approaches to Live Art in the Revolution of Media’, cemented the importance of performance art within the contemporary arts landscape.