A needle, a stitch and many tales…

Kalakriti art gallery, Hyderabad is representing Kolkata-based artist Bapi Das at the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale that started on December 12  

Kochi-Muziris Biennale showcases unique display of contemporary artworks from artists across the globe. The 108-days event was inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and features 94 artists’ work, presented by more than 100 arts in ten different venues across the heritage cities of Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, and Ernakulam downtown.

Hyderabad-based Kalakriti Art Gallery represents artist Bapi Das popular for his embroidered compositions at the ongoing Kochi Bienalle. 

The traditional and age-old medium of needlework on cloth, ‘embroidery’, takes a novel stance in the series of works rendered by artist Bapi Das. The manual needle work attains a marvellous, unbelievably flawless and true to life perfection that fascinates and charms the viewer tremendously.

In sync with the past years spent driving an auto rickshaw for a living; his visual allegories absorb much from his background and history. He builds an intricate, intriguing journey on his medium of expression which is still rooted in his past experiences and time spent exploring the roads while driving. The personally accentuated perspectives of his escapades get exemplified through a selective, handpicked portrayal of excerpts absorbed from a vast terrain. The photorealistic depictions combined with imaginative and fantastical space divisions enhance the strength of his visual dialogue. 

Incidentally it was at Kalakriti Art Gallery that this untrained artist’s works were noticed by Bose Krishnamachari, one of the founder members of Kochi Biennale.