The storyteller as artist! Graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee on his new gig

Deutsche Bank sought to create a series of permanent largescale works for 80 walls of their new London office Pics Courtesy of the artist Deutsche Bank London and Project 88 MumbaiIf there is a companion you should choose for wandering around a new city or just treading an old familiar lane we can suggest no one better than Sarnath Banerjee His graphic novels mdash Corridor or The Barn Owls Wondrous Capers mdash brought to life Connaught Place and 18th century Calcuttas bustling streets their strange wares and even stranger residents In his third and most recent outing at Frieze London the Kolkataborn Berlinresident continues his love for the flacircneur but this time on walls rather than in pagesOn Monday Banerjee appreciates his first day off in months by complimenting Londons sunny morning snacking on bhel puri at Roti Chai on Oxford Street and coffee at a Turkish establishment on Edgeware Street Am living it up he says in his characteristic selfmocking manner and Skyping with us about An Encounter with Thomas Browne and Other Commonplace Utopias mdash the title of his Frieze showcase Its been an intensive six months with another six months to follow since he was sought out by Deutsche Bank to create a series of permanent largescale works for 80 walls of their new London office in Canary Wharf Known for its enviable corporate art collection Deutsche Bank previewed a selection from this suite of drawings to Belgravias finest at its VIP Lounge for Frieze London on October 7Sarnath BanerjeeBanerjee describes An Encounter variously as a soap opera where you bump into characters in every corner a collection of micronarratives a childrens book for adults and lastly sponsored selfindulgence Those who now enter Deutsche Banks office can navigate from floor to floor and follow a certain idea of entering and exploring a city However instead of the mechanical and the urban that usually pervade Banerjees works this time we are treated to the abundance of natureThe brief given to me by Alistair Hicks Deutsche Banks former senior curator and Mary Findlaycurator Deutsche Bank was openended but we all agreed that wed start with gardens rather than the dark Arcadias that I usually draw says Banerjee adding Gardens seemed proper and English enough In this Edenic profusion intellectuals such as Gregor Mendel and Francis Bacon amuse themselves with peapods robins ladybugs and bonsais These are interjected with conversations and musings in the form of Japanese renga Banerjee sits between art and literature constantly seeking a balance between image and text writes Shanay Jhaveri assistant curator of South Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art New YorkOne of Banerjees works on the Deutsche Bank wallsThe garden as a space for enlightenment and enquiry is something I have explored here along with themes like the wandering man flacircneuring the city narcissism and falselearning ndash how easily a society can be swayed by a few words England is going through this having recently burnt its fingers he says The protagonist of the series ndash the 17th century English polymath Sir Thomas Browne ndash becomes Banerjees beacon against templatethinkingHowever the true Banerjee fan might find An Encounter mellower in its politics is this the artist who in his most recent graphic novel All Quiet in Vikaspuri gave us water wars in a dystopian future There is no need to fight the right battle in the wrong place Vikaspuri is a totally different world from the Deutsche Bank lobby he saysAn Encounters scheme of colours came about with long conversations between Banerjee and designer Sudeep Chaudhuri We quip that green is not a colour that we have often seen in his works and ndash after a merry comment about cabbages and kales ndash Banerjee says Men of my age he is in his midforties have to make peace with our outer limits No matter how famous you are you are not as famous as a minor actor in a television soap I aspire less these days and have less need for a very large audienceThe mature Sarnath is therefore taking a brief retirement from drawing In the near future he will broadcast radiocomics panels will be narrated and we are most likely to hear more on Banerjees take on narcissim Its a whole new world for him and he explains that the interest in radio is not random but stems from his love for dialogue conversation and radio plays If you have been privy to Banerjees scintillating wit you will know why radio is a natural choice for him Also in the works is a History Biennale and making sexy history textbooks along with notable historiansTo gravitate away from drawing is not a new resolution for Banerjee but try as much as he can he always finds himself with pen and paper and as in this occasion with a commission as substantial as Deutsche Banks that is hard to refuse I default into it naturally because it is my way of making sense of the world around me Each of the walls at Deutsche Bank for instance came after almost half a notebooks worth of thoughts What drawing does is that it slows you down and makes you look hard at things And like my Bengali accent I cannot get rid of it he says Graphic novelist artist and now radio artiste mdash Banerjee knows how to toy with labels