Daku (artist)

Daku
Born Real name: unknown
Date of birth: unknown
Birthplace: unknown
Known for Graffiti
Street art
Social commentary
Website www.daku156.com

Daku is a pseudonymous graffiti artist from Delhi, India.[1][2]

Early life

The real identity of Daku is not known. Not much is known about his life. He is possibly born around 1984. He was raised in a small town in Saurashtra, Gujarat. He studied art and worked with an advertising agency before starting graffiti. Daku literally means "bandit" or "dacoit" in Hindi.[1][3][4]

Career

[The street art is] decorative, contextual, layered and artists aren’t afraid of giving their name. Graffiti is more underground, more rebel.
— Daku, Wall Street Journal, 2013

He was introduced to graffiti in 2006 and started working in 2008–09. He worked with global graffiti group, Crew 156 for a year in Mumbai. He also collaborated with two other graffiti artist, Bond and Zine in Delhi in 2008. He started tagging his own name in Devnagari script on walls in Mumbai and South Delhi in 2008 and told that he did it to reach large Indian population who understand only local languages. He stenciled fuck in Hindi across nine places in Mumbai overnight in 2011 to protest against Vasant Dhoble, assistant commissioner of police who was accused of moral policing. He regularly commented on social issues by his works like stenciled LPG cylinder rocket to highlight price rise, blindfolded protester during 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement.[5] Before 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, he modified several stop signs to deliver messages and provoke reaction from public. He tagged many garbage bins with Ku Da in Delhi, an anagram of his own name. For years he tags his name Daku across cities in India in indigenous fonts and typographies including Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Baroda. He along with others, did 200 meter long and seven meter high wall graffiti, commissioned at Buddh International Circuit. He along with Bond, created 200 square meter graffiti at IIT Bombay TechFest in 2011.[1][4][6][7] before Indian general election, 2014, he painted a graffiti Mat Do at F-block, Connaught Place which had dual meaning, don’t give vote or vote. It showed a fisted hand with an inked middle finger.[8]

He organized India's first-ever street art festival in Delhi in 2013.[9] His works have been showcased at venues such as the Centre Pompidou, Venice Biennale and Triennale Design museum.[10] He participated in the India Art Fair 2015 and created 100-meter-long stencilled mural on asphalt with the repeated slogan, This is commissioned vandalism.[11][12][13][14] Reportedly he designed a room in flat of Hrithik Roshan in 2015.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Singh, Isha (27 April 2013). "Meet India’s Banksy". WSJ. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Pretty as a picture: India Art Fair 2015". The Sunday Guardian. 9 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "'India's Banksy' wants to provoke voters". BBC News. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  4. 1 2 Bordewekar, Sandhya (29 November 2014). "Graffiti Art: The Emergence of Daku on Indian Streets". Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Nevatia, Shreevatsa (7 November 2014). "Rinky on the wall". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Cans & Roses: Guerrilla artists on Indian street". The Economic Times. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Street art breathes a new life into Mumbai — Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "A pithy message on the wall". Deccan Herald. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "A new breed of artists is taking their canvases to public spaces". India Today. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  10. ↑ "St+ART Delhi 2015". St+ART Delhi 2015. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  11. ↑ Khurana, Chanpreet (22 January 2015). "Giant ants, melting carpets". http://www.livemint.com/. Retrieved 9 August 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  12. ↑ Kuruvilla, Elizabeth (10 January 2015). "Girish Shahane: ‘Art as investment is a dreadful idea’". http://www.livemint.com/. Retrieved 9 August 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  13. ↑ Maddox, Georgina (30 January 2015). "Alive to the arts". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Shahane, Girish (31 January 2015). "The Ideas That Shaped The Special Projects At The India Art Fair". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  15. ↑ Mirror, Mumbai (14 May 2015). "Reflects action". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
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