Important Notice

Speaking of the origins of his fascination with structure, sexuality and the human form, Ravinder Reddy notes, “During my studies at art school, I developed feeling for organic forms. My exposure to various cultures – Asian, Egyptian, Mayan, and early Greek – made a strong impression on me in terms of monumentality, strong form, frontality, and overpowering presence. Open sexual sensuality in folk art forms also made a deep impression on me. I... Speaking of the origins of his fascination with structure, sexuality and the human form, Ravinder Reddy notes, “During my studies at art school, I developed feeling for organic forms. My exposure to various cultures – Asian, Egyptian, Mayan, and early Greek – made a strong impression on me in terms of monumentality, strong form, frontality, and overpowering presence. Open sexual sensuality in folk art forms also made a deep impression on me. I incorporate these things in my work. I draw inspiration from my surroundings…In my work, I wish primarily to re-experience images perceived in everyday life. Adding and subtracting lumps of clay and building up volume enables me, through close physical contact, to grasp the image in sculptural form. Later, I define this image more precisely in paint” (Ravinder Reddy, The Andy Warhol Museum exhibition catalogue, 2001, not paginated).

The present lot, an early male head executed in terracotta, exhibits the same inescapable frontality and physicality of the fiberglass heads covered with thick car paint and gold leaf that Reddy is well known for. Deeply influenced by ancient Indian sculpture, folk art as well as the colourful and kitschy mélanges of its modern day bazaars, in these sculptures the artist flawlessly melds various Indian and international artistic traditions and histories with contemporary aesthetics. Ever conscious of the viewer’s gaze, these figures with their wide-open eyes are simultaneously naïve and unabashed, indulgent, defiant and provocative.

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