Art lives on light. Painters talk about the darkness within but galleries think of it differently. Step on to the third floor of MAP Museum in Bengaluru, the door opens to a dark hall. As if on cue, the lights come on to reveal 39 images that tell the story of an artist whose work reflects the master printmaker, sculptor, and teacher that he was.
Krishna Reddy grew up in Andhra Pradesh in the 1920s and started his artistic career from Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan. His unique colour viscosity printing is on display at Museum of Art & Photography exhibition, titled Rhyme Unbroken.
The show coincides with the start of his centenary year (1925-2018) and takes one on a journey on his artistic evolution. The artworks use the technique of Intaglio printing, a process that involves indenting a metal plate using a steel tool to incise it.
Ink is then applied to the grooves of the sculpted plate for it to transfer the colours onto the paper using a roller. As he worked with other renowned printmakers across the world—he was appointed co-director of Paris-based Atelier 17 in 1964—Reddy pioneered the printing technique of combining colours with varying viscosities that creates rich layers of impression.
The show is arranged to reflect the flow of the many influences of his life. For example, the first set of paintings on display shows his early connection with nature. Specifically, there is a painting called Fish that reflects the movement of a fish in water. The layer in the artwork is a fine example of colour viscosity printing and needs some time to decipher.
Next to this are two more artworks that show a butterfly and a seahorse. “There are numerous interesting forms that add a lot of character to his images. And with viscosity printing, the colours with different densities of oil interact with each other offering an interesting mix,” says Kuzhali Jaganathan, co-curator of the show.
There is a series of paintings that show germination, and how seeds implode to form life as well as a series on water that looks like crashing waves and droplets on windows when it rains. One of his most famous series, Clown, was inspired by a visit to a circus in 1978 with his daughter, Apu. A rare work which draws attention at the exhibition shows a series of images depicting the student protests in Paris in 1968. “He also made a sculpture of this protest based on the print,” says co-curator Arnika Ahldag.
Reddy once said, “Printmaking makes one learn to be humble.” His impressive body of work lives up to the concept of humility of the greats.