Lot 88: RAVINDER REDDY

B. 1956 UNTITLED (HEAD) Enamel paint and gold leaf on polyester fiberglass 47.7 by 35.5 by 47.7 cm. (18 3/4 by 14 by 18 5/8 in.) Executed in 2006

Bose Pacia, New York

Painted in vivid colors with lustrous gold surfaces and elaborately coiled coiffures adorned with flowers, Ravinder Reddy's iconic heads exude a tactile, sensual quality. The red and gold tones are reminiscent of painted wooden images found in South Indian temples, while the pronounced curves of the form reference the rhythmic interplay of the convex and concave surfaces of the sculptures that adorn the stone walls. The woman's face, with her painted red lips, kohl-rimmed eyes and ornate, shining hair projects a magnetic appeal transfixing and drawing the gaze of the viewer, while her dispassionate gaze creates an impersonal space around her. As artist Gieve Patel explains, "...the sensuality [of the Reddy heads] is serene. In most instances the sexual impulse does not speak of excitement, but of fulfillment." (ArtIndia, vol. II, issue II, 1996, p. 81). Reddy's works draw on classical Indian sculptural prototypes placing them within a contemporary context. His heads combine the contemporary and the traditional, the secular and the religious, raising questions of social, sexual, religious and cultural identity. The works can be seen as a comment on the dilution of Indian culture through globalisation. 'Suspended between the urban and the rural Reddy's sculpture is a cultural hybrid. This interplay between societies has been of interest to Reddy; combining the stimulus of the old and the new he turns an iconic object into one of satirical social commentary - the classical form of Indian sculpture overlaid with the visual ethic of popular culture, becomes voluptuous, and accessible.' (DaimlerChrysler Contemporary, Private/Corporate IV: Works from the Lekha and Anupam Poddar, New Delhi, and DaimlerChrysler Collections: A Dialogue, Berlin, 2007, p. 52).