For the third sex
For artist couple A. Rajeswara Rao and Padma Reddy from Hyderabad, taking up art as a profession was the first choice. Both of them grew up “surrounded by art” and both, learnt techniques from their fathers. Rao even goes ahead to say he was inclined towards art from the day he was in his mother’s womb while Padma followed the footsteps of her artist father B.A. Reddy from a very young age.
Rao, who mostly works with clients from Mumbai and Delhi, is now preparing for a show in New Delhi. “We will create something new from the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma, and show Gods in different forms,” he says.
The highlight of this show is a portrait of the third sex titled, I love you Damayanthi.
“Though our society says it respects the third sex, it actually doesn’t. Through Damayanthi, I want to respect the third sex and the their lives. Another painting, which he titled I Too Love Gold shows Goddess Lakshmi, in full attire, walking out of a home,” explains the artist.
Although he doesn’t take part in many local shows, Rao made his mark with a unique technique. He works with acrylic colour on acrylic sheet. After the base drawing, he applies color and then the sketch is rolled, scratched and voila, you have a painting!
That’s not all. A papersheet is then added to the work, giving it an extra dimension. This ‘reverse painting technique’ was inspired by Tanjore glass paintings.
However, Rao recently changed his media to canvas. “When the thoughts, colours and brush are same, the medium shouldn’t matter much because you are going to convey the same message whether it’s on canvas or acrylic sheet,” he says about the shift.
Meanwhile, Padma Reddy, who is one among the many fine printmakers to emerge from the city, insists that the two were very different, strong and established individuals before they tied knot.
“We had different upbringings, different ideologies and were completely opposite like parallel lines. But gradually, these parallels converged into art and we became a couple.”
Also, talking about the younger generation of artists, the couple feels that artists these days are concentrating more on the money rather than improving skills.
“Many are overpricing their art, and that doesn't make any sense. They just have to practice a lot and establish themselves — learn more. Some are over throwing exhibitions after just two years of dabbling. That shouldn't be the case, become experts first.”
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