Paintings are his passion. Versatility is his middle name. Artist, columnist, critic, copywriter…. are all his synonyms. This is Krishna Shetty - Assistant Manager at BEML (Bharat Earth Movers Limited). He handles the weekly column Karnataka Darshana for Prajavani, a leading Kannada daily. He has conceived and compered many programmes on art for Doordarshan and All India Radio.He has held various positions as Member, Karnataka Lalit Kala Academy, Central Board of Film Censors, etc. He writes books on art, has conducted international exhibitions and workshops on paintings and no wonder!! He hails from Thirthahalli, Shimoga the birthplace of many famous artists and writers of Karnataka. At present his heart and soul is dedicated to a new series of abstracts. He takes time off from his busy schedule and speaks to bangalorebest.com on his favourite subject.

When you create a work of art, what really stimulates your creativity?

Ideas come to my mind like a stream of consciousness, just like a dream. When I start painting, I don't have any idea about what I am going to do. Even if I have a vague idea it will end up in something else. I am least bothered about the meaning and title of the picture.

Now there is a popular debate about fine art and commercial art, what is your opinion about this?

Fine art is basically for a painter's satisfaction; commercial art is for the general public. In commercial art we have to compromise according to clients inclination, their attitude, for the sake of money, but in fine arts there is no such constraints. It is 100 per cent ours.

What was the public's response to your exhibitions?

The general public is comparatively less exposed to this kind of art. But in theart circle I get a very good response. I believe that it's for aesthetic satisfaction of the artist at a point of time, not to portray or convey anything.

What medium you usually choose for paintings?

Choosing the medium entirely depends on the kind of series. For each series thinking process will be different, based on that we select the medium.

You also translate advertising campaigns from English to Kannada and vice versa. How do you do it with out destroying the essence or the subtle nuances, which are very important in advertising?

I' have been doing advertisement translations for 20 years. I can do it without much effort, it just comes naturally.

When you work on a piece of art do you keep any particular client in mind or do you do it solely for your satisfaction?

Sometimes I compromise, especially in case of murals. Ultimately client is important. Besides paintings, I used to do murals for art lovers. I did a metal mural for Vijaya Bank Head Office which is 10 feet X 30 feet.

How do you balance your office work with other commitments?

It's quite difficult to balance my work and other commitments; normally I do these on Saturdays and Sundays.

What is the attitude of youth towards art compared to olden days?

Dedication is not much now. We even had financial constraints, still we didn't bother about selling paintings, nowadays the story is different. Even though there are very good artists, one thing prevalent is money.

Address:

C S Krishna Shetty,
754, 3rd Stage, BEML Layout,
Rajeswarinagar,
Bangalore-560098
Ph: 2860 0746

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