Krishna Reddy
BORN DIED EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS PARTICIPATIONS HONORS AND AWARD ABOUT THE ARTIST I feel that, above all, printmaking makes one learn to be humble. Born in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, on July 15, 1925, printmaker and sculptor Krishna Reddy studied art at Vishwa-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal. From 1947 to 1950 he headed the art section in Kalakshetra, Chennai. Later, with the help of philosopher and writer J. Krishnamurthi, Reddy traveled to Europe, where he spent his most impressionable years. From 1951 to 1952 he studied art at the Slade School of Fine Arts, University of London. In later years, he worked with Hayter in Paris as associate director of the printmaking studio Atelier 17, as well as in the studios of Henry Moore in England, Marino Marini in Italy, and Ossip Zadkine in Paris. It was at Atelier 17 that he began to develop his unique engraving technique. He pioneered and mastered the color viscosity process, in which a metal plate is etched with acid or prepared with mechanical tools to form multiple layers. The intaglio color is applied by hand and excess ink is wiped away, especially from the top layers. The remaining colors are prepared with linseed oil. Each color has a different viscosity to repel each other on the plate. These colors are then rolled onto the iron, with the help of rollers of different degrees of softness, with the hardest ones reaching the lowest layers. Each print appears as an individual multicolor image. A noted innovator and experimenter, Reddy sees the plate as a sculpted surface and intaglio printing as a three-dimensional process. By varying the viscosity of the ink and the density of the roller, he has achieved colors of extraordinary complexity on the plate. Reddy's discovery of the principle of color viscosity has greatly simplified technical processes and at the same time increased the expressiveness and intensity of the image. His prints, often made in semi-abstract or abstract format, revolve around themes of nature, as well as human figures. A worshiper of nature, he can provide each engraved plate with an elemental experience that subtly fuses with the spiritual. What Reddy does, however, is strip his sketches of all the superfluous details. He has consistently followed his guru Nandalal Bose's advice to look beyond mere imitation of nature. There are very few comments on the human condition or the modern world in his works. There is a definite thematic and stylistic link between his engravings and sculptures. The latter include works in bronze, stone, terracotta, and marble. His marble works convey a feeling of elegance and poise. Reddy's works, on most occasions, are based on reality. The Clown series, for example, arose from a visit to the circus with his daughter. Among his popular large-scale sculptures is Aspiration, which was executed in Canada. The artist considers the printmaker Giacometti to be a major influence on him, an influence that resulted in his now familiar vocabulary of vertically extended images of clowns and women. Furthermore, his early years at Santiniketan and his time with the sculptors Henry Moore and Zadkine changed his approach to both printmaking and sculpture. During the 1950s, the quality of Reddy's work began to be recognized in several solo and group exhibitions. He also began teaching more widely, at American University, Washington and Stout, University of Wisconsin, Menomonie. He participated in the International Sculpture Symposium held in St Margarathain, Austria in 1962 and Montreal, Canada in 1964. He currently serves on numerous award juries, ranging from the Society of American Graphic Artists to the Lalit Kala Akademi of India, and Directs the Graphics Program at New York University. Reddy has written a comprehensive reference on the art of color engraving, a book that he does not expect the reader to know much about, but at the same time does not omit any technical details. In one of his essays, he talks about the need to simplify, to explore the very essence of nature. Awarded the Padma Shree in 1972, Reddy was also recently honored as one of the guests at the Silvermine National Print Biennial in the US. His works can be found in several public and private collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Albertina Museum, Vienna and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. The artist died on August 22, 2018 in New York. Notification - We do not usually display Krishna Reddy's work, only send it to private art collectors and interested art buyers.
15 July 1925, Nandanoor, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh
August 22, 2018 New York, United States
1956-57 Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Milan
1953-55 S.W.Hayters Atelier 17, International Graphic Center, Paris
1952-55 Academie Grande Chaumiere, Paris (Student of O.Zadkine in Sculpture)
1951-52 Slade School of Fine Arts, London
1942-47 Diploma in Fine Arts, Vishwa Bharti University, Santiniketan
1997, 98 retrospective exhibitions presented by the Printmaking Council of New Jersey in Somerville, New Jersey, and Widener Gallery at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.
1993 Five retrospectives in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Bangalore.
1990 Juggling Clown, Kenkeleba Gallery, Japan
1988 Organized by the Institute of Fine Arts and the School of Fine Arts of the University of Mexico at the Palacio de Bellas Artes Museum in Mexico City, Mexico.
1984-5 Retrospective, Bronx Museum of Arts, New York
1982 New Ways of Simultaneous Color Printmaking, presented by the National Education Association, New York State for Culture and the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Bronx Museum.
1981-2 Retrospective, Birla Academy of Art and Culture (BAAC), Calcutta
1979 Sculptors' Prints, Roy G.Biv Gallery, New York
1977 Weintraub Gallery, New York
2016 Workshop and Legacy Stanley William Hayter, Krishna Reddy, Zarina Hashmi, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
2013 Panoplismo, Nature Morte, New Delhi
2011 Natural Bodies, Subverted Canons, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2009-10 Discerning Form, Aicon Gallery, New York
2008 Retrospective Exhibition, Three Master Printmakers Lee Chesney, Krishna Reddy, and Ken Kerslake at Campus Center Gallery, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, Hawaii
2015 Selections from Abby Gray and Indian Modernism from the New York University Art Collection, Gray Art Gallery, New York University, New York
2008-09 India Moderna, organized by the Institut Valencia dArt Modern (IVAM) and Casa Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Valencia, Spain
2008 Moderns, Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with Embassy of India, Amman, Jordan
2005 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA)
1999 Honored by the Manhattan Graphics Center, New York
1972 Padma Shri, Government of India
Barman Arts Online