Known for his monumental canvases, colourful oils and watercolours, not much has been seen of the large body of sculptures Ramachandran has created in his long career of art practice starting from 1964 to the present day. For the first time, this exhibition gathers almost all these pieces of work done from 1974 to 2023 to present a unique exhibition of large, small and groups of bronzes and ceramics. Ramachandran has adapted tribal, primitive and classical Indian sculptures into making of totem-pole kind of imagery, a single pillar-like image highly stylized with decorative linear forms on top of it. The thin wax thread plays the role of line drawings breaking the flat surface of the sculpture with complex visual patterns. At close observation they are fragments of nature with plants, creepers, flowers and insects functioning as an allegorical suggestion of costume, hair style and ornaments. In short, this body of sculptures forms an independent inquiry into how to utilize the tribal, folk and classical elements of Indian sculptures without having much reference to the academic practice of image-making.
The exhibition will be on view at both Shridharani Art Gallery at Triveni Kala Sangam as well as Vadehra’s modern gallery space and will feature around 80 sculptures by the venerable artist.
Event Details:
Title: RAMACHANDRAN: A Retrospective of Sculptures
On view: at Shridharani Art Gallery: until 31 October 2023
On view: at Vadehra Art Gallery, D-40 Defence Colony, New Delhi: 17 October – 22 November 2023
