Metro's underground art

Students from a city art school paint station walls to inspire a sense of ownership in the general public
Pic: Vinod Kumar T
Pic: Vinod Kumar T

BENGALURU: On any regular day, you may catch 24-year-old Matthias Ramsey painting on the wall of Cubbon Park Metro Station. This Austrian is one of the many students of Srishti College of Art, Design and Technology who are painting the walls of the station.
The art school had launched Art in Transit in July 2014, in partnership with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation, to “transform transit sites into cultural hubs”. The idea was to create, in the general public, a sense of ownership and responsibility in the upkeep of such spaces. “Participating as viewer or actor in an art process builds a sense of belonging,” says the school’s website. Earlier, under this initiative, art works were on display at Peenya’s Metro Station.
While any passenger can see the progression of their works, in Cubbon Park station, the official inauguration is likely to be in the end of October. Matthias, who is from Austria, says that he loves Bengaluru and its “expressive people”. “It becomes easier for an artist to portray their lives,” he says. “It is very interesting to see people walking in groups, happily chatting with each other and sometimes they are walking hurriedly to their offices... there are so many concepts for an artist to explore, passionately.”
He started his work four weeks ago, from its conceptualisation, and plans to complete it in the next two weeks. Matthias’ work will be on Bengaluru’s transition. “Old Bengaluru had a naturality with Cubbon Park as its major centre of attraction. Now, there is a metro station nearby and here we see a different way of life.”
Fabrice Grollaire, a student from France, says that 15 other artists are working on this station. Fabrice’s work, titled ‘Cubbon Mark’, will be done on a wide, 15-feet wide canvas. “It’s a joyous experience,” says the 24-year-old, “I work with no breaks.” He is working with spray paints.
Fabrice’s final work will be placed inside the upper-ground lane of the metro tunnel.
He plans to create a graphic design that will be laid horizontally and will end in a picture of a man walking out of a plane. At that spot, he will mark “Cubbon Mark”.

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