Baadal Nanjundaswamy

Baadal Nanjundaswamy is a South Indian artist and writer. He was born on 2nd February 1979 in Karnataka. He is known for his three-dimensional paintings and visual art, especially those done for the public interest. Baadal is the son of Narasamma and Nanjaiah. He was born in the Kukkarahali area of Mysore in Karnataka, and spends time in Mysore and Bangalore. He studied Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts, an affiliated college of the Mysore University.. He graduated from there with a gold medal. He paid the college fees by selling his paintings. He worked as a visualizer at the Bangalore branch of marketing agency Ogilvy & Mather for three years, before becoming a freelance artist. He earned the name “Baadal” at ‘Rangayana’- a theater institute in Mysore, where he worked for one year.

Baadal’s solo exhibitions included “Colors and Beyond” at the Suchitra Art Gallery which had gel-pen sketches depicting many slices of life scenes from his train journeys and “Machine Manushya” at Sabarang art gallery. His paintings have also featured at various exhibitions and collections including -cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s portrait at the Students’ Activity Centre in IIT Powai. Baadal’s street art mainly focuses on the poor condition of roads and social issues. His street artworks included –‘crocodile installation in a pothole in Sultanpalya in Bangalore’,’ Yamraj’s face around an open manhole in RT Nagar in Bangalore’, ‘money down the drain at Kensington Road in Ulsoor in Bangalore’ and many others. These artworks garnered media attention and forced civic authorities to repair the roads.

In 2014, the Government of Karnataka appointed Baadal as the president of the sub-committee of the Handicrafts and Fine Arts for the Mysusru Dasara festivities in Mysore. Baadal made his film debut as an art director with the Kannada movie Lucia in 2013 which won four awards and was nominated for two more. He also worked as the production designer for the movie U Turn which released on 20th May 2016. Baadal is also known for his stories. His first story, Moraka Iliyannu Konda Kathe was published in a popular Kannada newspaper and received critical acclaim. He also wrote a Spanish story called La Historio de Fidencio, which was set in Mexico. His other stories include- Baagilanu Teredu, Hali, Durugappa Devara Tathastu Maja Katheyu, Manekelasada Vandaliyu Baby Bhaktiyaralu and many others. Baadal received the Pride of Mysuru Award from Pragati Paratishtana in 2015.