Partial biography source:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2993868/bio
Unique features of Chitra Ramanathan's body of work:
* Extensive body of paintings portraying happiness as a visual entity with a "formless form", created through abstract figuration, intense colors and varieties of found texture materials
* The artist's mixed-media paintings on and behind Plexiglas and anodized aluminum
* Predominantly large-scale paintings or installation
Born in Thiruvananthapuram, India, Chitra Ramanathan is a contemporary Indian American visual artist and educator. She produces predominantly large scale abstract conceptual mixed media paintings, drawings, prints, site-specific installation works, and sculpture that have been exhibited in art galleries in SoHo, Broadway Manhattan, New York, solo exhibition at the ARC Gallery & Educational Foundation at Chicago, and more recently a 2006 solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Artsgarden, Circle Centre, Indianapolis, USA.
Several of her colorful mixed media paintings are with art collectors around the United States and in Europe including donation of two large scale paintings on permanent display in the conference hall of the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1995, a painting sold at the Madam C.J. Walker Theatre Center, Indianapolis towards benefit to the Eightieth Birthday Benefit Gala Dinner-silent and live art auction in 2006 and a piece created for the 'Indianapolis International Film Festival 2008' based on a favorite Hollywood movie "'Breaking Away 1979'".
Commissions include a series of post-card paintings which was a commission for the Florida International University art department, Miami, Florida in 2005 (to coincide with Art Basel Miami 2005) and a series of ten post-card sized paintings for the Indianapolis Museum of Art's "Gallery of the Machine" in 2006.
Recently completed commission entailed creating a permanent wall mural measuring 13.8 feet wide and 4 feet high, in the front lobby of Crooked Creek Elementary School, Marion County, Indianapolis. This March 2008 site specific public art project was made possible through a grant to the school by the Metropolitan School Foundation, a public school district in Indianapolis.
Earlier site specific public art commissions and installation art projects awarded include a pair of signed large mixed-media paintings for the MGM Mirage that are permanently housed inside the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Las Vegas since 2004, and five large-scale multi-media paintings for the Arts Council of Indianapolis at Chase Towers near Monument Circle Indianapolis in 2006, which is an annual project supported by the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission.
Chitra Ramanathan's body of mixed-media paintings are characterized by abstract figuration, intense colours and multiple layers of textures that interact with light to "challenge the boundaries of their two-dimensional surfaces", Her work is inspired by the short-lived garden blooms and cyclical seasons that 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, trying times followed by happy phases and of life and rebirth influenced by her roots from India. Her paintings on varied surfaces have been described as "tactile works that resonate with a quiet harmony" by Manhattan Arts International magazine, New York.
Her work has attracted visiting artist lectures to institutions within the U.S and abroad, such as a 2005 invitation from Professor Dr. Maurice Cockrill to London's Royal Academy of Arts for a visual presentation of her body of work and conducting student tutorials at the Royal Academy Schools.
Chitra earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting with Honours in 1993 from the College of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, during which period she also allotted time to study Painting and Art History in Paris, France, with extended time spent at Claude Monet's garden in Giverny, France and other parts of Europe that influenced her later work. She completed a M.B.A from the same university in 1997.
She is Painting Faculty in Drawing, Acrylics, and Mixed-media Painting at the Indianapolis Art Center, USA, while accepting invitational visiting artist lectures, adjunct professor positions, artist residencies, collaborative team projects, exhibition jury requests, site-specific public art commissions, freelance assignments, and invitations to teach courses from educational institutions.
Media quotes of Chitra Ramanathan
"I feel happiness is like a garden. Seasons change and it's the same with the mental state of happiness. (Optimistically) good times follow difficult phases in life - it's a cyclical concept"..
" would like to work on more public and corporate art commissions, maybe liven up buildings and offices that people see every day..." - Interview profile by Della Pacheco, Women in Business section, the Indianapolis Business Journal, Indiana U.S.A, April 2007.
"I consider happiness to be irresistible, fleeting, and ephemeral. You can never really capture it but instead imagine it in so many colorful ways. I try to put these emotions down each time I set out to create.
Right from the beginning, I think of the visual impact of my finished paintings being exposed to natural versus artificial light and of different times of day, because of the presence of iridescent hues in many a piece. Similarly, textures can "play" with the eye when viewed under different light settings. I have progressively explored methods to capture the best effects of color, light and texture Color, light and texture play very important roles in my work, as well as process and minute details in the tradition of Indian Miniatures" - Interview profile by Melissa Merle, The News-Gazette.com, Illinois U.S.A, 2003.
"My drawings are the backbones of my paintings."
"I feel fortunate that my work has got accepted so favorably - people who come across my paintings through the worldwide web have been writing to me, and many have become collectors of my work. I am thankful that my work has traveled to different parts of the U.S and Europe. I have done a fair amount of donating work to worthy causes. Currently some of my paintings are designated for auction, proceeds from sales to reach organizations committed that benefit causes that benefit children on a global scale.
"Water - I love water! It is so essential for life on our planet. Rivers, seascapes - anything portraying the vast expanses of it in different kinds of lighting might be interesting" (When asked about the most beautiful thing (featuring landscape as subject) to paint - Profile interview by Kasey Jackson,The Indianapolis Star Media Group: Fishers Geist Magazine, Indiana, USA July 2007.
Books/Journal References:
*Biography and artwork of Chitra Ramanathan, “The Artists Bluebook 2004, Directory of American Artists from the 16th Century to August 2004"- by Lonnie Pierson Dunbier, Editor. From www.askART.com "Books on this artist"
*Abstract, Publication of the College Art Association "World Art: A Panhuman Narrative for Egalitarian Teaching" Co Chair, Art History Session: College Art Association 96th Annual Conference, Dallas-Fort Worth: Committee on Diversity Practices. Topic Presentation: "World Art: A Panhuman Narrative for Egalitarian Teaching", 96th Annual Conference 2008
*Biography, Marquis Publications Who’s Who in America 2008, 62nd Edition
Memberships:
Americans for the Arts, 2009-
Associate member, S1 Artspace, Sheffield United Kingdom. URL:
http://www.s1artspace.org/homepage.htm
Member, Committee on Diversity Practices, College Art Association, New York, USA, 2007-2010. URL:
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:C8rxXMkmYK0J:www.collegeart.org/committees/diversity.html+CAA+Committees+Chitra+Ramanathan&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a.
(Previous committee: Services to Artists, 2003-2006)
MAGAZINE REVIEWS & ARTICLES * Indicates articles)
• * Profile: “Rendezvous Artist”, Profile Article by Kasey Jackson, Indianapolis Star Newspaper’s Fishers|Geist Magazine, Indiana, USA. July/August 2007
• * ”Paintings Give Form to the Ephemeral”, interview/profile: Della Pacheco, the Indianapolis Business Journal, Women in Business Section, April 9-15, 2007
• * Profile: “Secret Success”, Indianapolis Monthly Home Magazine, July 2006
• CAA News, Newsletter of the College Art Association, NYC; Volume 30, Number 5, "Solo Exhibition by Artist Members", September 2005
•* PR WEB Worldwide Press Release, “The Artist Chitra Ramanathan to Lecture at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK” September 25, 2005
• * “Artist Chitra Ramanathan receives Hotel Bellagio Las Vegas Commission”, University of Illinois Alumni Newsletter, August 2005
• * Awards and Grants, People in the News, CAA News, Newsletter of the College Art Association, NYC; November 2004
• * PR WEB Worldwide Press Release, December 9, 2004
• * PR WEB Worldwide Press Release, October 27, 2004
• * Academe, People in the News, CAA News, Newsletter of the College Art Association, New York City, Volume 29, Number 4, July 2004
• * "Happy Art", Melissa Merli, Staff Writer, The Champaign-Urbana News Gazette, Champaign, Illinois, USA. Sunday, February 23, 2003
• CAA News, "Solo Exhibition by Artist Members", November 2001
•* The Champaign-Urbana News Gazette, "New Exhibition Series Opens at the Springer Cultural Center, 2000
• * Krish Krishnan, "CHITRA RAMANATHAN" KALA Arts Quarterly, Toronto, Canada, January 2000
• * Levina Melwani, New York Correspondent, India Today Magazine, New York, USA. “IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS”, May 1998
• * Louis Rodriguez Aranguren, “PINTORA HINDU CHITRA RAMANATHAN SEDUCE A NEW YORK CON EL EMBRUJO DEL COLOR Y ALEGORIAS METAFISCAS” ("Hindu Painter Chitra Ramanathan Seduces New York with enchantment of color and metaphysical allegories") Nosotros Magazine, New York, USA. April 1995
• * “Midwest Artist Slates Show in N.Y”, India Abroad Magazine, USA. March 31 1995
• * Claude LeSuer, “Six Original Talents at Montserrat Gallery”, ARTSPEAK, New York USA.1995
• * Gordon Dane, “Reviews & Previews” Manhattan Arts International, New York, USA. Autumn, 1995
• * Gisele Atterberry, “Complexities Abound in ‘Simple’ Works”, The Champaign-Urbana News Gazette, December 3 1993
AWARDS:
• 2006 Viewers Choice Award, Exhibition, Print Gallery, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA: “Impromptu Show “ 4 Star Gallery, Indianapolis
• 2004 Awarded site-specific commission by the MGM Mirage, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
• 1994 “Outstanding Achievement in the Painting Discipline” Product Grant Award, LIQUITEX Excellence in Art, Binney & Smith, Inc. USA
• 1995 “Outstanding Achievement in the Painting Discipline,” Product Grant Award,, LIQUITEX Excellence in Art, Binney & Smith, Inc. USA
Exhibitions 2009, 2010. Source:
http://www.chitraramanathan.com
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.
Solo exhibition, GALLERY SEVEN, Pike Performing Arts Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. June 1 - July 2, 2010.
2009:
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.
BE THERE
