Ravinder Reddy

Ravinder Reddy (b. 1956, Andhra Pradesh, India) is one of the most emblematic figures in contemporary South Asian sculpture. Trained at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, Reddy has developed a singular body of work that combines monumentality, vivid color, and stylized form, creating a powerful visual language instantly identifiable as his own. 

His sculptures, often larger-than-life painted busts of women, blend references to Hindu iconography, folk art, and religious statuary, while drawing from ancient sculptural traditions, such as Egyptian and early Greek art, where frontal simplicity and symbolic clarity dominate. These influences underpin the solemn, heraldic presence of his figures: with their wide-open, front-facing eyes, they appear not only to look at the viewer, but to proclaim: to announce a truth, a message, or a renewal. 

Through these women, elevated, adorned, and stylized, Reddy challenges conventional ideals of beauty and identity in Indian society. The ordinary woman is transfigured into an idol, not as a passive object, but as a powerful symbol of cultural dignity and transformation. The gold-leafed jewelry, the elaborate hairstyles, and the use of searing reds and saturated blues all contribute to a sculptural vocabulary both contemporary and timeless. 

Yet beneath this rigor lies a vibrant sensuality: subtle, playful, and serene. Even when the subject is not overtly erotic, Reddy’s figures are infused with life: a quiet mischief, a fulfilled presence, disrupting the strictures of convention and breathing warmth into their stillness. 

His work has been exhibited internationally in major institutions, including the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.