SOLO SHOW
Subaltern Nayika and Lotus Pond
A. RAMACHANDRAN
14th November - 30th November 2021
Open all days | 11 am - 7 pm
Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam
205 Tansen Marg, Mandi House, New Delhi 110001
15th November - 12th December 2021
Monday - Saturday | 10 am - 6 pm Vadehra Art Gallery
D-40 Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024
Vadehra Art Gallery is proud to present an exhibition by A. Ramachandran in two spaces, Shridharani Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam and our modern gallery in Defence Colony. Both exhibitions show the artist’s extraordinary style of painting from his latest bodies of work, Subaltern Nayikas and Lotus Pond.
A painter of nature is not only de ned by his distinct way of looking but also by his distinct way of transcribing what he sees. It allows an artist like Ramachandran to engage with a motif like the lotus pond (or for that matter Cezanne with Mont Sainte-Victoire or Monet with his lily pond) year after year, decade after decade. It also makes both experience and language inexhaustible, both for the artist and his viewers. And like Cezanne’s mountain views and Monet’s water lilies, Ramachandran’s Lotus Ponds also do not preach, or teach, but invite us to engage deeply, to see, and to acknowledge.
The concept of the Ashta Nayikas is an ancient one, which has been represented for over a millennium in art, music and dance. Metaphysical matters have always been represented through
the actions of the body and the emotions in Indian art, dance, music and poetry. The eight nayikas can be interpreted as eight moods of women, or at a more profound level, the eight emotions of a human being. The nayikas too, had to experience fearlessness and re ection to be liberated in order to become subversive subalterns.
So many bold and bright colours aesthetically co-exist because one colour exists as the common denominator in each painting which binds the entire composition together. This is the key to understanding an artist’s sense of nature and the alchemy of all the paints that he uses. Lighter shades like that of the earthern pot, the owers and butter ies bring radiance and cohesiveness to the stronger, deeper colours. Ramachandran’s palette is extensive and fearless liberated by experience and re ection.
We’re happy to welcome visitors to both spaces, where we’re undertaking all safety protocols. A catalogue is also available on request. For all inquiries, please write to art@vadehraart.com.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
B. 1935
A recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 2005, Ramachandran has several other pretigious awards to his credit. Some of them include the Raja Ravi Verma Puruskar in 2003 and the National Award for Painting in both 1973 and 1969.
As a student at Kala Bhavan in Santineketan, Ramachandran studied art under masters like Ramkinkar Baij and Benodebehari Mukherjee. The cultural and intellectual milieu of Santiniketan drew him closer to the art traditions of India and other eastern civilizations and it is here that he began his lifelong research on the Mural Painting tradition of temples in Kerala.
Ramachandran initially painted in an Expressionistic style that re ected the angst of urban life, particularly the suffering he saw when visiting the city of Kolkata, but by the 1980s his style had undergone a vital change. From urban reality he moved his focus towards tribal community life, especially the tribes from Rajasthan, whose lives and culture gripped his imagination. The vibrant ethos of Rajasthan and his research on the mural paintings of Kerala in uenced his expression. The decorative elements and myths became an integral part of his works and his powerful line along with a greater understanding of colour and form created a dramatic ambience. His sculptures, which he made in the later years, were almost three dimensional translations of his paintings, containing multiple narratives and mythological interpretations.
ABOUT THE GALLERY
Established in 1987, Vadehra Art Gallery is among the most well-respected art galleries in India representing a roster of artists spanning four generations. Modern masters like M.F. Husain, Ram Kumar, S.H. Raza and Tyeb Mehta nd prime spot in the gallery’s calendar alongside the subsequent generation of modernists like Arpita Singh, Nalini Malani, Gulammohammed Sheikh and Rameshwar Broota. VAG’s contemporary programme includes some of the most exciting names in Indian art such as Atul Dodiya, Shilpa Gupta, Anju Dodiya, N.S. Harsha, Jagannath Panda, as well as young emerging talent. As a key artistic interlocutor to audiences in India the gallery expanded its exhibition programme in 2007 to exhibit important names from the international contemporary
