A boy stitching a football — an universal emblem of aspiration. This vibrant pose in the slums of Brazil was immediately captured by Riyas Komu, an accomplished Mumbai-based painter and a photographer. Even after establishing himself as a renowned painter, this Kerala-born artist hasn’t forget his first love: football. He wants to live with the game along with art.
But Why he has chosen Indian footballers as his subject. “Indian football has brought in some fame through their modest effort but we don’t have time to attend them. The players are not to be blamed for it. They actually struggle with their lives than the game.”
Riyas grew up playing football and lived with it till the age of 21 in Kerala. And then he moved to Mumbai to pursue art. His work refers to the paradoxes of the urban situation where there is glamour and abject poverty. He is compassionate yet it is laced with cynism.
“I realised the players’ issues from an artist’s point of view. My art revolves around socio-political issues. I decided to give first preference to players’ issues because I’ve found they are not treated well despite being the national players,” he added.
So while Habibur Rahman posed with his modest bike on the Hooghly bridge or NS Manju on a Kolkata street, Riyas was happy clicking them from a difficult angle.
“As an artist, I want to speak for these players through my works. Its not just a subject for me. I see it as my responsibility!”
The exhibition was divided into four parts and titled ‘Mark Him’. The first half was held in Mumbai in 2007 followed by the second half in Kolkata in 2008. So while he traveled extensively from Goa to Kolkata and in Mumbai, one can gauge his sincere effort to do something for footballers who are usually left behind in the publicity market.
“When I finished my art training in 1999 and came to stay at Borivili, my interest in the game was revived. But I found that most of these footballers don’t even get a good room to sleep.
“They should not miss anything because they play a game where they have to “pass it around”.
(In Delhi & Mumbai, 2007)
