Priyesh Trivedi
Creator of ‘Adarsh Balak’, a series of illustrations and comics that parodies and critiques the educational posters prevalent in Indian schools from late 80’s and early 90’s, Priyesh T is the representation of pop culture, the series has gathered a dedicated cult following on social media.
Priyesh, Where does the name “Adarsh Balak” comes from, Whats the story?
‘Adarsh Balak’ is an art project I’m more known for. The series is a parody and critique of old educational posters that were prevalent in Indian schools in the 80’s and 90’s. The original posters were highly stereotypical and filled with social engineering which demanded obedience and subservience. So, I took the very distinct Indian visual style and recontextualized it to make it more subversive and ironical with strong overtones of dark humor. I started the project in 2014 and it became hugely popular on social media and gathered a cult following because of the visual relatability and tongue-in-cheek commentary that went with it.
For a few good years, the project had a good run with it being a part of exhibitions and many brand collaborations all the way till 2019 when I put it on hiatus to focus more on my other ideas and projects. But the series is still very much alive online and in peoples’ memories and I do plan to go back to it at some point and create new works in that style.
‘Adarsh Balak’ also became my moniker in a way.
How did visual art happen to you, please take us throught the journey so far?
I’ve always created art since I was a kid. I started painting very early on in life and got better over time alongside experimenting with other mediums. But I obviously didn’t pursue it in a serious way as a professional until much later when I had enough clarity and confidence to do so. I went through the cliché drill of having latent potential, being stuck in day jobs that I hated and eventually stepping away from all of it to just give it a shot and being persistent at it.
Childhood has to do quite a lot with the way our perception builds in early phase of life, how was yours and who were the people or subjects that inspired you then ?
Absolutely. So many aspects of my childhood are reflected in my work in some way or another. Most of my childhood was taken up by just painting and playing video games. I wasn’t worried about academics because I did fairly well without trying too hard and I had a persistent itch to be an artist when I grew up so I never cared much about getting great grades since they wouldn’t help much. Just the general disdain and indifference towards my school and the rigidity of the Indian educational system and society eventually formed the backbone for Adarsh Balak.
My work deals a lot with popular culture and nostalgia so a lot of ideas draw reference and inspiration from everything that I was into when I was a kid. My humor was largely shaped by watching a lot of Simpsons, the early seasons where the humor was so witty and funny. Also, this was in the late 90’s and early 2000’s when cable TV boomed in India and there was so much to consume and connect to when it came to global popular culture in music, fashion and media. Later, my sense of political satire and irony was very much shaped by watching clips of Jon Stewart’s Daily Show and a lot of South Park on Comedy Central. My sense of crafting visual narratives was shaped by reading a lot of comics and graphic novels. And with internet, which for me came slightly later in life around my mid-to-late-teenage years I was exposed to a lot of art and media that was like a dam breaking and since then it’s just been on a constant journey of learning.
Priyesh you have tried your hands in multimedia and also paintings. How mediums play a role in your narrative and story telling ?
For me medium comes second, first is always the idea or the concept. If you place medium first, you’re limited by what ideas you can come up with. Over the years I’ve worked with video, projection mapping, new media and light. And I love working on a cool idea regardless of how it’s materialized.
Painting is obviously what I’m more known for but even within that medium I work with a lot of styles and aesthetics depending on what the idea demands. Adarsh Balak was a parody of the old Indian school posters so I emulated that style. ‘Super Bardo’ something that we will get to later is a crossover between 8-bit graphics and Tibetan thangkas. Versatility is the only way I can truly enjoy making art so it doesn’t become monotonous. Some of my future ideas are a mix of sculpture and installation so it’s always open-ended.
With all the work you have done so far, a common theme that i noticed are philosophical and psychological, which always has this link with art. Priyesh, i wonder about your thoughts of the world at large. Is there something that bothers you or perhaps inspires you to take this route?
Art is always a response to something that bothers you. Even if you don’t know what it is. Be it personal or social.
Like I mentioned earlier, I give a lot of thought to the broad idea behind a series of works and it’s always a layered multi-referential narrative that’s derived from my personal worldview that is shaped by certain schools of thought and philosophies that I’m inclined towards. The popular culture aspect is simply a carrier for those ideas. Which is why it’s easy for me to communicate to people if they already have something to relate to. I don’t have a rigid worldview and it’s always evolving but a lot of it is informed by continental philosophy, socio-political ideologies and contemporary cultural criticism. I’m very mindful though to not make anything too preachy because art isn’t supposed to solve any problems. It can channel a conversation that needs to be had at a very crucial time but it cannot be seen as the solution. I think maintaining that ironic distance also helps in a more free process of ideation and execution.
With a satirical or ironic themes, with the world we have ought to come to face with, What are your thoughts on the south asian (Indian) society ? What do you intend with your rebellious work and what is your driving force?
Satire is an inevitable by-product of existing in a corner of South Asia or India if you’re observant enough. Hypocrisy exists in every part of the world but in India it’s on grand display as a virtue.
With Adarsh Balak I was pointing out a lot of things about how we design and shape our lives and societal norms that are counter-intuitive at best and destructive at worst. I think the reason why that project worked so well was because every 90’s kid that grew up with those charts in schools and dealing with adulthood later with all the social tensions around found an articulation to their angst or frustrations. It was like collective venting and the humor only made it more appealing. For me it’s just pure expression and not rebellion. It always comes from a place of concern and not rage because anger can heavily color your thought process and misdirect the idea behind the work.
Priyesh, Art has evolved a lot, as we enter 2024, What has changed or shifted in you from the time your first work got exhibited say 10 years ago to the fairly recent one exhibited at Method India?
Yeah, absolutely. I’m still trying to wrap my head around NFTs, Generative Art and AI and it’s something I definitely want to explore. This is inevitable. New mediums and platforms come along with time and they can potentially change the landscape of a marker and maybe create new ones.
My first couple of shows were in 2015 and I was a complete outsider in the art world. There is a slow and gradual progression in people opening up to newer ideas and younger artists with fresh visions. And with how technology is intersecting with the more traditional understanding of what art is meant to be I only see it becoming more open and conducive to ideas that would probably be rejected ten years back. It’s an interesting time.
Lets get on to your recent work ‘Super Bardo’, which i personally had opportunity to see, for me it was a soft slide show of the pop indian culture and its bubbling representation. Its fair to say you are the voice of indian youth for many. What you think people resonate with through your work?
‘Super Bardo’ is my latest solo exhibition that opened in January this year. The series is a crossover between the Super Mario universe and Bardo Thodol, known to the world as the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
It’s a metafictional visual chronicle of the afterlife of Mario when he dies in the game and later traverses the Bardo stages before ‘reincarnating’ in the game again. Stylistically, the series is a mix of 8-bit iconography of the game and Thangka paintings. And it explores concepts like existentialism, death and free will. It’s a very absurdist idea but it really makes you think about our predicament as well when it comes finding meaning in life and the futility of it all.
People loved the series because again it has relatable visual references since many of us grew up playing Super Mario and the more discerning kinds are able to really get the message and think over it. That’s what people resonate to. It’s always about presenting familiar material but with a context that they never considered. In that sense, perhaps I am.
Priyesh i see you have fascination towards electronic music, lets go through your recent favourite underground artist that you’d like to shout out to ?
Lately I’ve been going back to discographies of artists that I’ve heard over the years and listen to them again with fresh ears. Some after couple of years. Some after almost a decade.
I’ve been re-listening to artists like Burial, Aphex Twin, Bjork and the likes but with much better gear that I didn’t have back then and it’s interesting to hear it again with so many details and intricacies that I missed out on earlier.
The films you want our readers to watch this coming weekend?
I haven’t seen a lot of movies recently because I was so occupied with my solo exhibition but I really recommend ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ by Martin McDonagh. It’s brilliantly made and it’s interesting how he made it to be an allegory of the dynamics of the Irish Civil War but with characters on a little island. Another would be to the 2018 Suspiria remake, for the soundtrack by Thom Yorke if nothing else. The soundtrack of the original is great too. And one movie I recently recommended to my class that I teach is ‘Paris, Texas’ and how Edward Hopper’s painting was so influential in its art direction.
Last but not least, What's next , any ongoing project youd like to discuss ?
I have many ideas in mind for my next shows and projects. Some based on pop culture commentary, some based on involving old gaming hardware and tech. I also plan to go back to Adarsh Balak at some point and have a dedicated solo show for it. There is a lot to look forward to.
Interview JAGRATI MAHAVER
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