Dear young artists (students of Fine Arts, recent graduates, emerging talents) of Nepal, I found out earlier today that on Saturday, The Kathmandu Post published an odd article about Aditya Aryal aka Sadhu-X, one of our most promising artists. It was very disappointing for many reasons, which I will address below. But first I want to urge you not to let that article discourage your artistic expression or make you conform in any way. Here is why: on that same Saturday, here in Brooklyn, New York, where the world’s top street artists come to make art, Nepali artists took center stage and the local art community loved it. One of the main pieces of that exhibition here in New York was ‘Rape Me’, the subject of the article in The Kathmandu Post. There were other young Nepali artists in the show whose works received much praise, but because the article focused on Aditya’s work, I will use this space to do the same.
Everyone who came to the 36-hour show in Brooklyn – a mix of New Yorker art enthusiasts, non-Nepalis who have spent time in Nepal, as well as young and old Nepalis who simply wanted to support Nepali artists by attending the event – were pretty much unanimous in their feeling: Aditya’s works transcend his identity as defined by the country he was born in. His real identity now is that of a skilled global artist who belongs to a uniquely articulate art movement: urban/street art. One of the many photos taken by those in attendance crossed over 3,000 likes courtesy of an international audience on Instagram in less than 24 hours.
The point being: while most of the guests who came to the show genuinely seemed to have liked all the artists being exhibited, when they saw Aditya’s work they immediately understood his form, style, and calibre. There is a reason The New York Times has called him “one of Nepal’s most influential street artists“.
So what was that Kathmandu Post article about? An opinion is welcome, criticism too. But to publish an attack on an artist in a national news daily with seemingly no background research or understanding of the topic is a little strange on the part of a professional reviewer (my friend Sophia Pande otherwise reviews movies in a regular column for Nepali Times.)
So while appreciating the expression of her opinion and reaction to ‘Rape Me’, I am only going to address the more technical, less opinionated part of her tirade.
1) The writer questions the meaning of the wings and other details in the artwork.
All the questions in this vein that Sophia raises were answered in December 2014 in a half-page article in Nepali Times, the paper that she writes for (but in this case clearly didn’t read). That she is asking those questions in February 2015 implies she didn’t bother to look up what she was criticizing. (Or felt she didn’t need to.)
2) The writer says “the image seems blurry to me.” The work she is criticizing is a stencil piece. And the version she saw on the street (the only version she has seen) is in fact stencil on Nepali paper for wheat-pasting. The art is not blurry. Maybe the writer was driving too fast.
3) Banksy reference: The fact that the writer imagines that the entire street art movement and its various styles and forms can be defined by a single artist throws her judgment into doubt. She says of Banksy that “his images are clear – that’s why they are great.” I am no art expert but I am very sure “clarity” is probably not the defining characteristic of great art. And to reduce Banksy’s greatness to “clarity” is perhaps not a compliment to the artist even though the writer seems to think so.
4) The List: the attack on Aditya ends with a whole list of what artists should do and shouldn’t do. I have a shorter list for the writer: do your research, and make sure you know what you are talking about, or risk looking like the Hindu stormtroopers who shut down a well-known gallery a couple of years ago.
The art community is increasingly expected to address socio-political topics and it is important for artists who want their art to work as social commentary to be aware of the issues they are representing. In the case of ‘Rape Me’, the artist is clear, and had been for two years (since the beginning of the Occupy Baluwatar movement), before he had the opportunity to make the piece. Aditya, who won an honors award as a Bachelor’s student of Fine Arts, is one of Nepal’s most prolific artists. His artistic skills, local cultural understanding and global sensibility make him a potent artist. Nepal’s post-internet generation of young artists have the same potential, and many are already exploring their worlds and pushing all kinds of boundaries. It is always important to be open to ideas and criticism, but don’t let angry attacks published as reviews discourage you. It probably just means you are doing something right.
Instead of complaining about what other reviewers say, instead of appealing to authority through reviews/tweets/support/acclaim, maybe Kashish could have written what he saw in this piece that he took the risk in having it shown?
whats the point of street art if it needs to gain legitmacy by relying on “background research”? what does it say of the “street art” in dicussion if it requires an explanation to make its “intervention”?
Rather than go on a defensive rant about how influential (and approved by New Yorkers) the artist is, it would help to actually engage with the critique.
Hilarious that so-called “provocative” street artists position themselves beyond criticism.
Dear TskTskTsk and UgUg,
Lovely names.
Here is the context to the piece that may help some of your questions:
thecitymuseum.org/occupy/
Regards,
Kashish
The very inception of street art began with challenging the authority. The entire movement is deeply stitched with rebellion and vandalism. Street has no rules and neither does art. For Sophia to be outraged by street art is expected but her reaction felt a bit too orthodox and reactive. I remember the outrage when an artist depicted hindu gods as spuerheroes. Both artwork challenged the norm and people got pissed off. Kashish is welcome is the same vein to provide a counter argument as Sophia did, in fact, fail to do some background research on the homage the art is making while making the statement. That said, if Banksy is the ideal that we are striving for, then he never gave a fuck about what people thought of his art and kept doing his thing. If street art in Nepal wants to take their steps towards maturity, then it is time the artists stop worrying about public opinion and make things that satisfies them. Art is and will be subjective – no use thinking about the inevitable comments.
Very glad someone addressed the Kantipur article. It’s not just quite but rather very unfortunate the way the article was written and the artist and the art work misunderstood!
I didnt think Sophia was off about the SadhuX piece at all, even though I find most of her reviews to be shallow and pedantic. An artist’s history doesn’t excuse a poorly conceptualized and communicated piece, however it might appeal to New Yorkers. I take issue with Kashish insinuating that because a bunch of New Yorkers validated Aditya’s art, it somehow legitimizes his work and we are supposed be in thrall.
I like Aditya’s work, and I didn’t need a gallery in Brooklyn to tell me he’s good. He displays an exuberant creativity that borrows from many traditions, from hip-hop graffiti to cubism to post-modernism. He is interesting in that way, as an outpouring of this interesting amalgam that is filtered through Aditya’s own unique perspective. That said, I find the Rape Me piece ineffective. Like Sophia says, it shocks and titillates but it doesn’t do much more than that. Sophia is also right in critiquing the suggestive ‘come hither’ pose of the Kumari. Rape is not about seduction and the pose, coupled with the bared breasts, seem to suggest to some titillation on the part of the rape victim. It might have been more effective to display the Kumari in her full garb and then have a Rape Me stencil over her. But of course, this is only my take on it, as Sophia’s piece was her take on it. That’s the thing about art no? You are allowed to react to it, positively or negatively. All that said, Sophia does not seem to know much about street art or its history/origins. Her shallow reference to Banksy is indicative of that.
And I don’t think Sophia should be taken to task over a criticism. I donot see how she is trying to censor art in any way and to compare her with the Hindu fundamentalists who shut down that Manish Harijan fellow is a real low blow. Kashish, you say you are her friend, but all throughout your response, you denigrate her and take cheap shots, like insinuating she doesn’t read the paper she is published in, referring to her criticism as a ‘tirade’ and willfully misinterpreting her criticism of the artwork being metaphorically ‘blurry’. You didn’t have to resort to that to critique Sophia’s critique.
I think you need to read her review one more time because its as if shes taking us readers for dimwits! REALLY read it putting aside all personal, art matter, read it as if you were an english teacher….
Great thing about street art you can always paint over it if it offends. If you’re gonna go and defend every criticism of art you are going to have a bad time.
I somewhat agree with Nepali Kancha but would like to point out an analogous situation on the efficacy of street art on mass conscience. A spot in a galli is littered with trash, urine trails and other rubbish and someone cleans it up and sets up images of gods and goddesses at the spot so that people will keep the galli clean. After setting the images the spot is clean but another spot in the SAME galli a few paces from the images gets trashed. Unless all the walls of the galli is covered with images it can never be entirely clean. I am glad that someone has come up with idea and eagerly await next piece that addresses same/similar issue that makes another dent at mass complacency and slow willingness to accept change.
This was my reaction after reading Ms Sophia Pande’s ‘critique’ /’review’, I dont even like Aditya’s art, i would have loved it 10 yrs ago though! ( in reality she shouldnt go back a century she should go back to cave ages when art was ‘as is’) :
I actually disagree with this article very strongly. If an article it is. It is a very personal and bias review on Art. I didn’t need to be enlightened by friends to understand what the art was about ( really all you need to know is Nirvana to understand where the art is coming from !!! the song Rape Me hint hint nudge nudge) But then again I’ve had an education and teenage years full of rebellion and excellent music.
If you want Banksy then please, bring your eyes to only look at Banksy. You say it is not for you to say how art should be yet you just do the opposite in the next paragraph!
If you want art that is AS is, then go back a century!
The defensiveness in your response to Sophia’s article is telling. Just because a work of street art is provocative does not make it brilliant. Your use of the example of the Hindu stormtroopers is disingenuous. If a fundamentalist is upset with a some piece of artistic representation it does not magically follow that the work in question is a masterpiece. It really isn’t that difficult push their buttons if you really wanted to.
One does not need to look further than Nirvana’s (remember them?) album cover for “In Utero” (1993) (which also happens to have a song called “Rape Me”) to know that this artwork is cheaply provocative, dated, derivative and dare I say it: depressingly provincial.
Kathmandu does have a vibrant street art scene, Kashish, and you’ve done a good job sharing this with New York. So kudos to you for that. None of this changes the fact that the “Rape Me” mural is utterly tone-deaf is deserving of total castigation. Sophia is on point. Peace.
Could this syrupy confrontation be a sham so that both Sophia Pande and The City Museum get publicity?
It is so typical of people like Kashish that they creates hype,promote and pander to anything from thug turned politician Gagan Thapa’s ridiculously risible and moronic election manifesto to artist ( in this case Mr. Aditya) as long as anything they does/create doesn’t offend his bourgeois crypto-fascist sensibility and there is something he can exploit for his own gain.
Compare his unctuous lapdog reaction in defending the artwork he curated with that of an artwork by Seb Toussaint and Spag from the Outside Krew. He and minions like him went to town denouncing the temple artwork as crass, puerile, and low-brow art. They were foaming at mouth with rage over how the artwork of two foreigners Seb and Spag have desecrated their Hindu heritage. how sanctimonious immature pharisaical of you now to accuse someone else of being a Hindu stormtropper ??
Is it really a street art if you take it and frame it inside an art gallery or a museum in a posh area and then charge public 50 rs for an entrance???
Street art should be out there on the street, wall and crumbling neglected temple for the public to enjoy. Maybe Marcel Proust had people like Kashish in mind when he said we only see beauty when we’re looking through an ornate gold frame.
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