Shivu Mahesh is the current AIR_Frankfurt guest artist from Bangalore

Shivu Kaparthi Mahesh’s artistic practice is characterized by translating everyday observations, personal anecdotes, and memories into material forms. He works with clay, 3D animation, and 3D printing, examining the relation between aesthetics and utility.

His first exhibition in Europe at basis Project space in Frankfurt am Main concludes his three-month residency that is taking place within the framework of AIR_Frankfurt in cooperation with the Goethe Institute Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore.

In the exhibition Translatoys, Mahesh is mapping a linguistic space between the Kannada language, spoken in South India, and the German language. Highlighting various differences in script, signs, and vocabulary, he still finds similarities, which he illustrates with 15 words. With 3D-printed cars, those words can be inscribed into streets of clay covering the exhibition space. Visitors are invited to participate in leaving linguistic traces thus completing the installation in a playful manner. Thereby navigating through language becomes a performative experience.