- Born
- Birth nameChitra Subramanyam
- Contemporary visual artist Chitra Ramanathan's unique, predominantly large-scale body of acrylics and mixed-media paintings portray the mental emotion of happiness as a visual entity through her unique rendering of multiple layers of textures that attract light from various angles, pushing the boundaries of her paintings beyond the confines of their two-dimensional surfaces. The distinguished artist's unique work is 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 the artist has been known to have coined to describe the 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".
The professional contemporary artist earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree majoring in Painting with honors in 1993, and her M.B.A degree with concentrations in Art Museum Administration and Human Resources in 1997 both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. During her student years, she spent an extensive period of time studying art in Paris, France. The experience paved the way for her future abstract paintings that compare the emotion of happiness as cyclical and fleeting to ephemeral garden blooms. Combined with an expressionistic style, the concept is influenced by the Impressionist Movement particularly Claude Monet's paintings which make Chitra Ramanathan's work unique.
The artist's working process, including large installations evolves continually with each developing piece. The luminous surfaces are treated with primarily acrylic mediums or mixed media, often dense with collaged imagery and cutting-edge techniques learned through educational avenues such as art conferences. Her experience serving as committee member (Committee for Diversity Practices, 2007-2010 and Services to Artists, 2003-2006) of the College Arts Association, New York, and professional artist residencies at organizations in France and Italy in recent years have been compelling factors.
An art educator as well, Chitra Ramanathan was invited by the Head of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, U.K in 2005 as Vsiter Artist where she presented a talk and visual presentation of her unique body of work and provided student critiques at the attached Royal Academy Schools.
Chitra Ramanathan's paintings and biography have been featured in magazine and book publications including Who's Who in America, Askart.com, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), International Contemporary Artists, Vol 1. available on Amazon.com, the Indianapolis Business Journal, Luxury Real Estate Magazine and others.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Biography - 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 a 2006 solo exhibition at the Indianapolis Artsgarden, Circle Centre, Indianapolis to name a few.
Several of her colorful mixed media paintings are owned by individuals and corporate 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 awarded 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 by current Royal Academy Keeper and Head, Professor Maurice Cockrill. 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. The artist returned to France in April 2010, accepting a invitation to complete a self-directed artist residency at Marnay-sur Seine, completing her month long work in April 2010 with a trip back to Giverny.
Her paintings are represented by Artprice.com Auction House, France and OneArtWorld.com- IMDb Mini Biography By: http://www.saatchigallery.co.uk - Contemporary visual artist Chitra Ramanathan's artist's career debuted with solo and group exhibitions of her paintings at different venues including Agora Gallery on Broadway, New York City. Noticed by art critics for her concept and originality, her name and art were featured in different art publications including Manhattan Arts Magazine.
Ramanathan's unique, intuitive style of painting is distinct with her treatment of fresh, bright colors executed with rapid brush strokes. Often combined with varied intricately interwoven textural materials interwoven into the paint rather than mere stand-alone collages, her work visually creates the aura of extending beyond their two-dimensional surfaces, frequently created in expansive scale, or as multi-paneled works with the concept of happiness and expression of joy, the theme of her ongoing body of work. They have been featured in venues including courthouses, hotels and prominent solo and group exhibitions or as specific commissioned projects. Her numerous originals have been acquired by private and business clients, auctions, and site-specific public art commissions including an installation of a pair of custom-created paintings at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas in 2004 invited by MGM Resorts International.
Recent private commissions include a recently completed commission request by a private client in Dayton area, Ohio to create pair of paintings identically measuring 7 feet high by 3.4 feet wide that was completed in July 2020. In 2016, a three-paneled painting was commissioned by the CEO of Biaggis chain of restaurants in Bloomington, Illinois, and a 5 feet wide X 3 feet high commissioned piece for a private client in Boston, MA in 2018.
An award-winning child artist growing up in India, Ramanathan earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting with honors in 1993 and M.B.A in 1997 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Publications of Chitra Ramanathan's biography and images have been featured in Askart.com, Luxury Real Estate Magazine, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), Who's Who in America, International Contemporary Artists, Vol 1., the Indianapolis Business Journal, Indianapolis Monthly Home Magazine, Miami Art Scene Magazine in 2018, and Wikipedia.
In recognition of her uniqueness and experience, Ramanathan was invited as Visiting Artist by the Head of the Royal Academy of Arts, London UK in 2005. for a visual presentation and student critiques at the Royal Academy of Arts Schools.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Various sources
- Extensive body of paintings depicting happiness portrayed as a "formless form" as a visual entity
- Her mixed-media paintings on and behind Plexiglas
- Predominently large-scale pieces
- 2004 site-specific public art commission for MGM Mirage to create two paintings both measuring 4 feet X 6 feet in dimension and signed by the artist are on display inside the Bellagio Conservatory, Las Vegas. They are based on an earlier 1999 and a 2000 smaller sized pieces by the artist..
- Her custom created large mixed media painting, based on the 1979 Hollywood film "Breaking Away", was donated towards auction for the Indianapolis International Film Festival 2008.
- Her mixed media painting, measuring 36 inches by 48 inches, was sold at the Madam C.J. Walker Theatre Center, Indianapolis towards benefit to the Eightieth Birthday Benefit Gala Dinner-Silent and Live Art Auction (2006).
- Two of her large-scale paintings are permanently displayed and owned by the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1995).
- Her first solo exhibition in the U.S was hosted by the ARC Gallery and Educational Foundation at Chicago in 1994. This major exhibition featured her paintings as well as sculptures and prints (monoprints and lithographs). The Chicago exhibition was followed by shows at different art galleries on Broadway, New York from 1995-1998.
- 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.
- 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.
- I feel fortunate that my work has got accepted so favorably - people who come across my paintings on various websites 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 up for auction at a website, where I have designated part of the proceeds from sales to reach organizations such as Newborns in Need, American Red Cross and the Jolie-Pitt Foundation to benefit children's causes globally. I wish to continue painting as long as I live. I would like to work on more public and corporate art commissions, maybe liven up buildings and offices that people see every day...
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content