‘Scribbling in a trance’
“Men are just not that interesting,” she says. And when you are staring at the figuratives by Anjani Reddy, somewhere deep down, you know she is right.
One of the most senior artists from Hyderabad, Reddy was also part of a group that helped build the city’s reputation for figurative art.
This Telangana artist first tasted success with her paintings on ‘human homes’. “Till 2005, I focussed only on drawing dwellings. These were all semi-abstracts. Then, there was a transition into human figuratives. It was a slow change,” she says.
Today, Anjani Reddy’s paintings are recognised around the world. A typical work includes a woman, whose head is in the foreground of the canvas, making it seem as if she’s emerging from the frame. And the background, and even the body of the subject, are usually blurred.
“Women have always fascinated me...they have many shades to them, many emotions, their postures are so distinct and even their clothes,” she adds.
While her earliest inspirations were the etchings on the pillars of the Chalukya temple at her home town and the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, Anjani Reddy’s style and vocabulary evolved over the years as she learned from the rich artistic atmosphere created in the city by the likes of Sayed Bin Mohammad, Vidya Bhushan, Seshagiri Rao, Kavita Deuskar.
After the successful first solo show in the year 1991 at the Kala Bhavan in Hyderabad, Anjani Reddy has been taking her style to cities like Mumbai and New Delhi.
“In Mumbai, people don’t care if you are a beginner. They just buy good art. I remember one J.J. Baba who approached me with a wish that he wanted to have five paintings of mine, but he could take only one. Later, I was told that he keeps that painting very close to his work desk.”
In 1994, Reddy’s painting of her own ancestral house was also put in the Titan calender alongside the likes of Jamini Roy.
Reddy has also made a name globally. In fact, her small canvas work will be a part of United Colours of Benetton’s coffee table book on world art.
Her work that features in the book will also be part of the Venice Biennele in July, along with works from other artists in the city and across the world. After all this success, the artist defines success as “selling madness”. “The artist is scribbling in a trance. That is the process. And when someone wants to buy that madness, it feels great... knowing that someone relates to what you are going through.”
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