Chitra Ramanathan Public Art Mural 2008 on U tube
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Chitra Ramanathan Public Art Mural 2008 on U tube
Featured film captures work in progress of a permanent wall mural painting by artist contmporary conceptual artist Chitra Ramanathan, that measures 13.8 feet wide and 4 feet high and is located in the front lobby of Crooked Creek Elementary School, Marion County Indianapolis, Indiana U.S.A. Created between March and April 2008, this has been a site-specific public art commission made possible by a grant to the school by the Washington Township School Foundation, Indiana. It was completed April 5, 2008.The event was publicized in the local media. Mini Biography Educator and professional artist Chitra Ramanathan's current series of predominantly large-scale multi-media paintings portray the mental emotion of happiness as a visual entity through intense colors and multiple layers of textures that attract light from various angles, pushing the boundaries of her paintings beyond the confines of a two-dimensional surface. They are inspired by short-lived garden blooms and constantly changing seasons in nature, characteristics that attribute to the ephemeral, fleeting and enticingly beautiful happiness' "formless form": a phrase she has coined to describe her concept. The hint of circles almost always present in her works signify the cycle of human life: trying times followed by happy phases in a positive sense, and of life and rebirth influenced by her roots from India. Her paintings have been described as "tactile works that resonate with a quiet harmony" and "Simply luxurious" by Manhattan Arts, New York. To quote from an excerpt from an interview with the artist, "Chitra's paintings exemplify her love of nature as well as the subjectivity of each individual's unique pursuit of happiness. Her painting procedure often entails making mental notes of a scene in nature, including the lighting, colors, and textures. She then uses these impressions in her studio to replicate the subject matter in an abstracted form, using rich physical textures, intense colors, and varied media". Born in Thiruvananthapuram, India; Chitra Ramanathan (last name pronounced Rama-Naathan) 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. 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, for the front lobby of Crooked Creek Elementary School, Marion County, Indianapolis, this March 2008 site specific public art project made possible through a grant to the school by the Metropolitan School Foundation which is a public school district in Indianapolis. Earlier site specific public art commissions and installation art projects award ed include two large paintings for the MGM Mirage that are permanently housed inside the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Las Vegas in 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. Academically, Chitra Ramanathan's work has attracted invitational visiting artist lectures to educational institutions such as the Kansas State University art department in 2002, and the Royal Academy of Arts/Royal Academy Schools London in 2005. Chitra earned her second Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting with Honors in 1993 during which period she also allotted time to study Painting and Art History in Paris, France, with visits to Giverny, France that influenced her later work. Her paintings are represented by Artprice.com Auction House, France.
Blip | September 17, 2008
