Arty grafitti the new writing on the wall

BANGALORE: 'Keep your coins, I want CHANGE' reads graffiti on a London wall, credited to Banksy, a popular pseudonymous UK-based graffiti artist and political activist. And change is becoming more apparent on Bangalore's walls too, barring those in control of the BBMP.
A grey painting of a wrinkle-filled man's face screaming 'Ignorance is blindness of the soul' on a crumbling wall in North Bangalore's Malleswaram, is among the many works epitomizing change in the city.
The painting could be a metaphor for the efforts of the BBMP, whose conformist beautification project is stuck in the Victorian era. It has spent one too many coins on painting our walls with images depicting the 'vibrant culture' of Karnataka, in a bid to educate along with beautify. The kitsch it tried to pass off as culture has been described schlocky by art aficionados. This idea of using art to educate people had come under severe criticism during the Aestheticism Movement, with people like Oscar Wilde openly taking a stand against the culture.
What's happening on the walls of Bangalore is completely contrary; independent groups, including graffiti artists -- most of whom work in the quiet and dark away from the eyes of the public - are bringing a different flavour to this art work. The graffiti culture, which is more than just popular in cities like London, New York and Berlin, among others, is catching on in Bangalore.
For Deepak Thyagarajan, a young sports writer, graffiti is expression that satisfies his soul. A wall of his house has images of legendary rapper 2pac Shakur to Jesus Christ, and his own poetry.
"It's personal," he says, when asked for permission to click photographs. So is it for those painting the city walls anew. Except, the city is their canvas.
For students from the Srishti School of Art, who've taken to painting many walls in New Yelahanka, it is part of their college project. It is not the same for other artists -- while it's creating awareness for some, it's cleaning up the walls for others. Whatever the reason, the movement is becoming part of the narration of cosmopolitan Bangalore, garnering acceptance from young and old alike.
Veteran painter Yusuf Arakkal says: "I've seen this kind of graffiti in New York and other cities, I've seen some in our city too. As long as they can maintain aesthetics, they are welcome. It's always important we allow artists free expression."
However, it's this lack of expression that oozes from works commissioned by the Palike, which Arakkal said conceived the project without proper guidance from subject matter experts.
Echoing him, Babu Eshwar Prasad, a senior artist and member of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, said: "Some of the work done by youngsters in the city is inspiring."
So this could be the way forward for the city's walls, and not the way BBMP perceives it. After all, the purpose of art, in the words of Pablo Picasso, "...is washing the dust of daily life off our souls".