G. Ravinder Reddy's approach and response to women is "…sensitive to and celebratory of how they are to themselves and one [that] acknowledges their simple exuberance and their assured, powerful presence. An intrinsic bond with organic life and with the iconic tradition permeated his sculptures too, brought out however from within the immediacy of the everyday where it continues of its own force" (Martha Jakimowicz, "Volatile Allure:...
G. Ravinder Reddy's approach and response to women is "…sensitive to and celebratory of how they are to themselves and one [that] acknowledges their simple exuberance and their assured, powerful presence. An intrinsic bond with organic life and with the iconic tradition permeated his sculptures too, brought out however from within the immediacy of the everyday where it continues of its own force" (Martha Jakimowicz, "Volatile Allure: Metamorphoses of the Ethnic Woman", Enchanting the Icon, Sakshi Gallery exhibition catalogue, 2003, p. 15). In the present lot, an early, life-sized sculpture, Reddy draws on the sights and inhabitants of his city, Vishakhapatnam, in his portrayal a woman, perhaps a bather, seated in a lotus pond. Influenced equally by mythology and art history, the artist has titled this piece 'Gopika', alluding perhaps to the gopi vastra harana episode of the Krishna Leela in which the young Krishna steals the clothes of bathing gopis or milk maidens from the banks of the Yamuna River. Holding a lotus in each hand, Reddy's glossy red-orange Gopika embodies an innocent sensuality, and foreshadows some his later sculptures including the monumental gilded nude titled 'Stepping Out' executed in 2008. Speaking of his early painted works, Jakimowicz notes, "Working with live sitters, Reddy models first in clay and his figures retain much of the lively an dynamic directness of an attuned realistic portrayal together with a palpable sensuous feel of rich flesh, smooth, shiny skin and plump folds sated in lush maturity. His women never seduce or display themselves. Their nudity is naturally and comfortably open - graceful, calm and dignified, sometimes with a tinge of the endearingly awkward. Thanks to an amount of simplification and regularity, an emphasis on volume pushing out from inside, the figures gain a universal quality and some of the sublime monumentality of classical statuary which is also generated by their sheer size. The icons, yet, do not leave the present, since cast in fiberglass and covered by glossy, opaque commercial paint, they absorb a contemporary, popular feel…Fleeting emotions merge under the persistent sense of wondrous joy, as the women's huge, wide open eyes look right into the viewer and further as well as inside them, as if not noticing the spectator" (Ibid.).
Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in:
this auction
|
entire site
Lot
38
of
65
SUMMER ART AUCTION
15-16 JUNE 2011
Estimate
$100,000 - 150,000
Rs 43,50,000 - 65,25,000
USD payment only.
Why?
ARTWORK DETAILS
G Ravinder Reddy
Gopika
2003
Painted polyester, resin and fiberglass
Height: 49.5 in (125.7 cm) Width: 34 in (86.4 cm) Depth: 35 in (88.9 cm)
Illustrated are two views of the sculpture
PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist Private Collection, New York EXHIBITED AND PUBLISHED: Enchanting the Icon, Sakshi Art Gallery, Bangalore, 2003 EXHIBITED: Bose Pacia, New York, July 2007 PUBLISHED: India 20: Conversations with Contemporary Artists, Anupa Mehta, Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, 2007
Category: Sculpture
Style: Figurative