Friday, February 24, 2012
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Symphony (12500 USD), Image 2 (3500 USD)and Lyrical Profusio [Chitra RAMANATHAN]
Symphony (12500 USD), Image 2 (3500 USD)and Lyrical Profusio [Chitra RAMANATHAN]: Intensely colorful and detail-filled paintings of contemporary U.S.A based visual artist Chitra Ramanathan, known for her distinct body of work that portrays the HAPPINESS.
As happiness or intense joy has no recognizable characteristics as it as emotion of the mind, Chitra Ramanathan's unique visual portrayal of this complex theme offers a feast for the eyes, with intense colours, and intricate textures woven together to present 'formless forms' as a continuous cycle as the search for happiness is a continuous cycle throughout human life.
Chitra Ramanathan compares happiness to ephemeral garden blooms with cyclical changes in seasons, as they are both fleeting and short-lived but are extremely enticing and irresistible, and immensely attractive.
'Symphony', 'Image 2', and 'Lyrical Profusion' present mild, pleasing colours painted as with a continual field, emphasising an emotion that has no boundaries!
These paintings are suitable for any venue, are therapeutic and joy to behold!
As happiness or intense joy has no recognizable characteristics as it as emotion of the mind, Chitra Ramanathan's unique visual portrayal of this complex theme offers a feast for the eyes, with intense colours, and intricate textures woven together to present 'formless forms' as a continuous cycle as the search for happiness is a continuous cycle throughout human life.
Chitra Ramanathan compares happiness to ephemeral garden blooms with cyclical changes in seasons, as they are both fleeting and short-lived but are extremely enticing and irresistible, and immensely attractive.
'Symphony', 'Image 2', and 'Lyrical Profusion' present mild, pleasing colours painted as with a continual field, emphasising an emotion that has no boundaries!
These paintings are suitable for any venue, are therapeutic and joy to behold!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Chitra Ramanathan - Visual Artist - Facebook
Chitra Ramanathan, in her own words:
Through my body of work I portray the subject of happiness as a visual interpretation. To achieve this goal, I employ intense, vibrant colors combining them with intricate textural materials, arriving at predominantly large collages that convey the universal mental emotion. Since happiness has no recognizable form, I refer to the hint of figures and circular imagery as 'formless forms", a phrase I have coined to describe the abstract imagery. As happiness is a lifelong pursuit and yet could be elusive as an ongoing goal in the human life cycle, I refer to the feeling as fleeting and temporary, comparing the emotion to continually evolving ephemeral garden blooms and cyclical seasons in nature, as both are transient, changing and evolving.
Though my current body of work is conceptual with mixed-media collage and acrylics as prime mediums, I am equally comfortable with portrait and landscape painting and drawing or painting with pencil, charcoal or oil since I have experimented with different mediums since early childhood.
Serendipity intervening however, some large public art commissions I have completed in recent years have been requested after viewing my conceptual work with organizations requesting that I replicate my smaller works by basically re-creating them as large sized versions. One such was the MGM Mirage that commissioned me to create a pair of signed, site-specific paintings each measuring 4 feet wide and 6 feet high, which have been permanently displayed in the Cafe Bellagio (on the event of the Cafe being remodeled in 2003-2004) located inside the Bellagio Conservatory indoor botanical garden of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. This undertaking brought instant recognition for my work in 2004!
Similarly, a commission that was offered to me by the Washington Township School Foundation to complete a permanent wall mural for children in the front lobby of Crooked Creek Elementary School at Indianapolis, Indiana, USA which was completed in 2008, also expressed that I work in my "uniquely abstract" style.
Since my work is inspired by garden blooms and the outdoors and is colorful, it is suitable for all types of audiences and venues including hospitals or schools. For instance, the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA has permanently displayed two of my large-scale paintings in their facility.
To access videos of these and other installations, please click on the link: http://www.chitraramanathan.com/publicart.htm.
To view images, exhibitions including 2011, magazine reviews, public comments, recent book publications that include my biography and images, academic affiliations and related links, please visit my website at http://www.chitraramanathan.com/
Aside from being a professional artist, I teach courses and workshops in Mixed-media and Acrylic painting in the United States, travelling for lectures as in the case of the Royal Academy of Arts at London-U.K, which invited me to present a talk and about my body of work with image demos, and conduct student tutorials at the Royal Academy Schools in 2005. All of the above have been unbelievable experiences, as unexpected recognition for my work.
Thanks to all who support my work worldwide!
Best wishes,
Chitra
Biography:
Guided by flashes of inspiration, Chitra Ramanathan's images express her ongoing creative journey through a unique body of paintings which has produced delight, inspiration and peace to lovers and owners of her artwork. The artist's acrylics and mixed-media paintings, many of them very large, are uniquely characteristic of intense colors and multiple layers of varied textural materials that interact with light to "challenge the boundaries of their two-dimensional surfaces". They are inspired by short-lived garden blooms and cyclical seasons both of which the artist compares with the continually evolving, ephemeral, fleeting happiness' "formless form": a phrase she has coined to describe her concept. Hints of circles signify the human life-cycle which allude to trying times followed by happy phases, as a continuous cycle of life and rebirth influenced by her roots from India.
Painted on varieties textural materials layered on diverse surfaces be they canvas, plexiglas, linen, paper or anodized aluminum, viewers experience the illusion of the images extending beyond the confines of their otherwise two-dimensional surfaces under any light situation. Her work explores color, form and line that emerge as “formless forms” as she calls her abstracted images that mysteriously peek out of colorful details, while hints at circles that are also an integral part of her work signify the human life cycle. As a whole, her compositions and assemblages present an ongoing dialogue that offers endless possibilities to the viewer imagination. A solo retrospective exhibition of a large selection from her body of work was invited for the Indianapolis Artsgarden, near Monument Circle, Indianapolis in January 2006.
Her completed invitational commissions to date range from:
* A permanent wall painting for children measuring 13.8 feet wide and 4 feet high for the front lobby of Crooked Creek Elementary School in Marion County, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA completed in April 2008
* A site-specific public art project made possible through a grant to Crooked Creek Elementary School in Marion County, Indianapolis in Indiana, USA, a project made possible through a grant to the school by the Metropolitan School Foundation, a public school district in Indianapolis
*A permanent site-specific public art commission for the MGM Mirage in 2004, for which permanent site-specific installation the artist created a pair of large-scale, signed paintings based on her earlier works, housed in the Café Bellagio located inside the Bellagio Conservatory indoor botanical garden of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
* Five large-scale mixed-media paintings commissioned by the Arts Council of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA exhibited at Chase Towers, Monument Circle, Indianapolis from July 2006 to February 2007, an annual project of the Arts Council of Indianapolis supported by the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission, following a January 2006 solo retrospective exhibition of her body of work at the Indianapolis Arts Garden.
* A pair of paintings, one measuring 58 inches x 62 inches, and the other measuring 38 inches x 48 inches, ermanently displayed in the conference area of the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Champaign, Illinois, USA, gifted to the college in 1996.
Future/ongoing interests:
*Art direction, set creation/set design/set construction projects to design, build, construct and paint custom props, creating murals.
*Consult and develop themes for churches, casinos, schools, hospitals or corporate projects.
*Teach holiday courses in Drawing and Painting mediums
Accepted Visiting Artist Lectures:
Special invitation from Maurice Cockrill RA, Keeper and Head of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, U.K to for an image and lecture presentation of Chitra Ramanathan's body of work, and conduct Student Tutorials by the artist at the RA Schools in 2005
Visiting artist slide lecture for students of Painting in the Department of Art at Kansas State Manhattan, Kansas in 2002
2011 exhibitions:
Women's Day International Mail Art Exhibition 2011, Ahmedabad India - March 7-10, 2011
Vero Beach Art Club's Art by the Sea, Jan. 15 – 17, 2011 at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Florida, USA
Vero Beach Museum of Art Museum, Florida, USA: Art School Faculty Exhibition, January 15 – February 13, 2011
2010 exhibitions:
Solo exhibition, GALLERY SEVEN, Pike Performing Arts Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. June 4 - July 13, 2010.
SPOTLIGHT Artists Gallery Opening Night Reception Spotlight Art @ Clowes: Invitational Exhibition: "One Night, One Stage, One Reason" "to raise money for the Indiana AIDS Fund and HIV/AIDS education and prevention". Venue: Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana USA. April 12 – May 24, 2010.
Group exhibitions: Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Cambridgeshire, England
2009 exhibtions:
Bi-annual faculty exhibition, Indianapolis Art Center Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. August 28 - October 4, 2009
Invitational exhibition, The Brevard Art Museum of Arts and Sciences. Melbourne, Florida, USA. May 15 - July 12, 2009
"A Postcard is Worth 1000 Words Exhibition", APW Gallery Long Island City, New York, USA. June 5 - June 29, 2009
Book reviews:
Ramanathan, Chitra, p.118, International Contemporary Artists vol 1 (Paperback) : Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: International Contemporary Artists vol IThis review is from: International Contemporary Artists vol I http://www.amazon.com/International-Contemporary-Artists-vol.../9609322980 -
Awards
Partial list only:
1994 and 1995 Liquitex Product Grant from Binney & Smith, makers of Crayola Crayon for "Outstanding achievement in the Painting discipline.
Personal Information
About Chitra Ramanathan:
Drawing and painting from a very early age, painter, educator and muralist Chitra Ramanathan made her foray into art at a weekend art school for children in Kolkata, India when she was four years old. She entered in competitions through several of which she earned prizes throughout her growing years.
The early successes led to her seeking higher education by earning a Bache...See More
Personal Interests
Photography, sculpture, printmaking, gardening, karoake singing, golf, travel, dance, music, films, video. Making art, planting gardens, traveling with my best traveling companion, visiting with friends, reading lots of books on different subjects, and just enjoying every moment of every day!
Professional interests and details:
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Website
http://www.chitraramanathan.com
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2993868/bio
http://www.chitraramanathan.com/apps/links/
http://www.chitraramanathan.com/apps/photos
http://www.chitraramanathan.com/pressroo...
http://www.chitraramanathan.com/publicco...
http://www.chitraramanathan.com/books.htm
http://www.chitraramanathan.com/residenc...
http://www.chitraramanathan.com/publicar...
http://www.chitraramanathan.com/apps/vid...
Likes and Interests
Likes
Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, iTunes, Photography, art.com, Pink Floyd, Drawing, Movies, Painting, Indianapolis Art Center, Art School at Vero Beach Museum of Art, artnet, BBC World News
Saturday, July 30, 2011
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