Clicking Outside a Clique: A look at Cop Shiva's new exhibit in Bengaluru

New Indian Express

5 hours ago

Sugriva drives a scooter with Hanuman riding pillion, almost falling off, as rishis look on impassively; a grey-haired, saree-clad woman knocks out a fit boxer in a vibrant forest with only a tiger and a deer for an audience, and two characters who look like they've stepped out of an old mythological film, bedecked in jewellery, take a selfie as tourists in a city. These playful self-portraits of cop-turned-photographer BS Shivaraju, known as Cop Shiva, and his mother Gowramma, are one of 133 on display at Gallery Sumukha as part of the artist's newest exhibition 'No Longer a Memory' curated by Joshua Muyiwa. Photos from this ongoing project have previously won the public vote prize at the 23rd Asian Art Prize ceremony in 2023.
This series of photographs, seven years in the making, was born from Shiva's desire for something most take for granted, but he never had because of the difficult financial circumstances he grew up in – family photographs. 'In recent years, whenever I visited friends' houses, they would show me photographs from family albums. People have many fond memories as photographs but my mother and I didn't have a single photograph together. So I thought, since I'm now an artist and photographer, let's create work with my memories,' explains Shiva who, while working as a policeman, honed his skills by learning from artists at 1ShanthiRoad gallery, eventually quitting his job to become a full-time photographer.
Among his childhood memories, the ones that stood out most to Shiva were moments of play with his mother – dressing up and enacting mythological characters – inspired by Shiva's grandfather, who was a theatre artiste in their village. 'He used to play small roles in mythological plays and dramas happening throughout the night and he would take me along to watch him – these things were visually in my head. In the morning, I'd wake up and with all the things I saw, play with my mom. I think we have both got my grandfather's blood in us,' he laughs.
With this exhibit, these moments of childhood whimsy are 'no longer a memory', transporting the viewer into studio-style photographs that hold the memories of decades past with the brightly painted gallery walls and the colourful retro backgrounds on display, aiding in this immersion. 'I wanted to make it so that when you enter, you go back to your memory to the studio with your parents and grandparents, in the old photograph in your home,' explains Shiva, adding, 'With my generation, all family photos used to be in the studio and I'm a huge fan of this old Indian studio photography. So I used lots of old studio backdrops, and mythological theatre backdrops, commissioned some, and also used some beautiful contemporary fabrics. I travelled looking around some old studios in northern Karnataka for these because they are all gradually vanishing.'
While Cop Shiva's work has always focussed on unique people embodying characters, perhaps influenced by his early fascination with the theatrical, with previous projects focusing on a Gandhi impersonator and another who dresses up as Tamil actor MG Ramachandran; his experimentation with self-portraiture is a departure from this. He says, 'There are so many things I learned with these two projects and that was like a workshop for me – I got the confidence to place myself as my subject.'
And what better way to do it than with his mom, who, Shiva has been hearing from visitors is 'more confident and photogenic' than him. 'She, and that generation of women, had not gotten the opportunity to explore and play – after 60 years, she got to explore her acting skill. She loved to pose, and I think she is better than me in all the pictures,' he laughs.
(No Longer A Memory is open to visitors at Gallery Sumukha, Wilson Garden, until June 28)