Krishna Reddy is a printmaker and sculptor born in the Andhra Pradesh region of India. After earning an arts degree at Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal in 1946, he travelled to Europe to further his art education. At the time of his participation in the International Sculpture Symposium in Montréal, he was assistant director of the renowned Atelier 17 in Paris, where he developed the printing technique that enabled him to become one of the best intaglio printmakers in the world.
Reddy’s sculpture practice, less well known, retains the equivocal relationship between abstraction and reality that he expresses in his prints, as evidenced in the work produced at the International Sculpture Symposium in St. Margarethen, Austria (1962).
- 27 Artworks
- 1h30min
- Lac-aux-Castors Pavilion
Chalet du Mont-Royal
Artwork description
Like the other sculptures made during the 1964 symposium, all erected near the Smith House on Mount Royal, Reddy’s artwork was erected into a large open space. The sculpture, in the form of two folded and joined faces rising from a monolithic raw limestone base, challenges the gaze with its slender, sinuous configuration.
The smooth texture and curved, rounded lines give this abstract sculpture a clearly anthropomorphic character. The artwork also exudes a sensuality that evokes, through its verticality, sculptures by Giacometti, one of Reddy’s dominant influences.
Dr. Otto Bengle, organizer of the exhibition, observed in his personal notes the spirituality that Reddy and his wife – also a participant – showed during the event: “One has to admire the courage and tenacity of these two sculptors, whose power resides … in their spirituality.” The artwork’s grace, elegance, and serenity also function as a reminder of the particular context in which it was created.