The Green, Green, Grass of Home

His lyrical statement highlights the dramatic change in gear most artists experience when they shift to the city where speed is the key word. God’s own country may be the ideal place to plant the seed, but it’s in the city of conflict and concrete that these artists experience its germination.

‘‘When I came to JJ School of Art in 1985, I soon realised that Bombay had more to teach me about art than the institute,’’ says 41-year-old Bose Krishnamachari, the artist behind the show. Plugging into the ‘sleepless machine’, he didn’t take long to establish himself as one of Mumbai’s well-known faces.

‘‘Two years ago, I’d gone to Kerala to show my work for the first time. I was surprised by the enthusiasm and the number of people who turned up. Some travelled all the way from remote plantations in Kasargod,’’ says Krishnamachari. It dawned on him that while Mumbai had its rich art patrons, Kerala had eager viewers, thirsty for a glimpse of art from outside.

And so he gathered a group of mixed generations, disciplines and mediums to travel and share their work this February at Kashi Art Cafe, the new haven for art in Cochin.

Mumbai-based Keralite Baiju Parthan, who returns after 18 years for his first ever show, zeroes in on why Kashi, run by Kerala-born Anoop and American wife Dorrie is ideal: ‘‘The whole purpose of this show is to set a precedent—of trying to bridge the gap between the local and the metropolitan artists,’’ he says going on to explain how it becomes difficult not give in to the practicality of city centricity.

‘‘We don’t actually say it, but contemporary art is an urban phenomenon,’’ he adds, ticking off the long list of must-haves: galleries, curators, critics, media presence, collectors, funding agencies and so on.

Add to this the effervescent cultural environment where various ethnicities and nationalities can freely mingle and you know why Mumbai becomes the ideal launch pad for New York, London or Paris.

While Mumbai artists like Sudarshan Shetty, Jitish Kallat (a Mumbai born Keralite), Sheetal Gattani and Sunil Gawde are looking forward to sharing their work with fellow artists and the Kerala literati, the trip also has a large helping of nostalgia for those who’re going ‘home’. ‘‘I’ll meet my parents… after many years and for me this is my first ‘real’ show on home ground,’’ says Jyothi Basu, 44, one of the senior artists and a key part of the group. Not just for his experience in years but also for the pioneering role he played as one of the Radicals, a group of Marxists whose short effervescence in the Baroda art scene left a branding mark.

His solo show, hosted by Usha Mirchandani last year, knocked the wind out of many. While Basu’s studio in Gorai is still a verdant haven, he’s an eager conversationalist when he gets into town, daring young painters into exciting debates. ‘‘In Kerala people had forgotten all about me as a painter,’’ says Basu with an ironical smile. ‘‘It was only when I came to show in Mumbai that they suddenly remembered who I was.’’