Riyas Komu

Oil’s Well, Let’s Play!

Komu complicates sculptures by making them mobile. In this work titled Oil is Well, Let’s Play! the global hegemonies of America, Iraq and the Mid - East conflict is interpreted in terms of ancient classical imperialism. A Trojan horse kind of figure appears to be drawn on elaborately carved legs that recall the Hindu ratha tradition when the Gods leave the temple in procession, to go forth and give benediction. His essential figure however is cast concrete that resembles a grill; through the hungry masses of the human/animal form the map enters, apparently in the state of being consumed. Komu here assumed an unequivocal political position speaking from the margins of minority Muslim experience to critique the economic and political will of the west to dominate the world. We are compelled to examine the reporting and mythologizing of histories, even as they unfold before our eyes.

Karachi Series

Komu has been fascinated by the idea of death since his student days when, in a painting, he portrayed himself dead under a picture of Vincent Van Gogh. He carries this obsession forward in his photographic works ‘Karachi series’. These 14 black and white photographs, printed on brushed silver sheets, were shot during a residency Komu attended in Karachi, Pakistan. The series portrays grim photographs of tombs and burial grounds within the conflict-centric city in Pakistan. In these photographs the dead and their tombs live to tell the tale of a seemingly ‘cursed’ society which is often looked at as the epicentre of international terrorism. (see biography)