By JRS
A piece by Indian-born artist, Raghava KK
On Friday, February 26, 2010, life as Raghava KK knew it, changed forever. It was 12pm and we were meeting for coffee, a mere two hours after his much-hyped TED talk went live on the web. Earlier in the month, KK had given a talk to a group of self-proclaimed “nerds” in the ongoing series of interactive talks presented by TED. His talk is now considered one of the most engaging and engrossing in the organization’s history. He speech touches on living and painting in his native India, becoming a gallery sensation at a very young age, and having it all ripped away as the government’s draconian censorship slipped between him and his collectors. Slipping in the art community and inching closer to being flat broke, KK stopped painting for himself and started pandering to his audience. “They called me a sellout, and no one bought my art,” he told me, reflecting on a very dark time. “I don’t have to censor my art now that I’m in the US.”
SPREAD ArtCulture made the trek over the bridge during last week’s blizzard to speak to Raghava, who we’re quite certain will be on all of your radars very soon.
SPREAD ArtCulture: What do you hope to accomplish with your art in the US?
Raghava KK: I want to be a grassroots artist. I want to start with Brooklyn, then go to New York, LA, and then I want to make a difference. I’m giving myself three years (in the US), and if I haven’t reached people by then, I’m going to leave. Three years is a fair deadline. I’m just trying to be myself, as simple and mundane as that is, it’s honest. I’m just trying to be raw and unadulterated. I know that I appear to be civil and decent, but I’m really capable of anything. I don’t censor my thoughts and my artwork reflects my thoughts. I think uncensored, honest thought has tremendous value.
There will be much more from this artist to come very soon. In the meantime, be sure to check out the link for his TED interview below.
