G Ravinder Reddy
A first glance at G Ravinder Reddy’s sculptures fixes one in time and space. His charismatic female figures beaming with bright colours and a fixed stare draws people to his mind and material.
Born in Suryapet, Andhra Pradesh in 1956, G Ravinder Reddy completed his post-graduation in Creative Sculpture from MS University of Baroda (1982). Soon, he went on to obtain a diploma in Art and Design at Goldsmith College of Arts in 1983 and a short certificate course in Ceramics from Royal College of Art, London in 1984. During his artistic practise, he taught Sculpture for three decades at the Department of Fine Arts, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.
Women have been central to G Ravinder Reddy’s artistic journey spanning over forty years. A sculptor from Visakhapatnam, his fascination with women from all walks of life is reflected in his brightly coloured busts and striking figures. Reddy worked with terracotta in his early days, and slowly shifted to clay. Though he worked with stone, bronze and wood, an urge to create larger figures led him to fibreglass. Its light nature gave him the possibility to experiment with colour, scale and shape, transforming his women into vibrant characters with penetrating eyes. His women are migrant workers, fish and vegetable sellers from the market, college goers, mothers and sisters who keep alive a landscape he is most intimate with.
''Reddy is known to derive inspiration for his art from watching real people in everyday situations. He is also motivated by the figurative traditions of tribal and folk art from India as well as Egypt, Mexico, Greece and elsewhere. Using these influences to craft and develop his own brand of simplified figures, he often exaggerates them in scale and size and douses them in bright colours. A touch of theatricality and grandiose is reflected in his larger-than-life heads and strikingly seductive, unclothed bodies.'' writes artist, poet, and art critic Ghulammohammed Sheikh on Ravinder Reddy’s practice.
Reddy’s oeuvre mirrors his lifelong interest in the art of Indian, Egyptian, African and Mesopotamian civilisations. As a result, his sculptures carry folk, pop and contemporary spirits. His sculptures are in the collections of many important museums such as Victoria & Albert Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum: Virginia Museum of fine arts; Queensland Art Gallery and many prestigious institutions and private collections in India and abroad.
