Indian master Intaglio painter Krishna Reddy played a key role in developing viscosity printing, which allowed artists to print multi-colored images from a single printing board. “Krishna Reddy: Paradise in Wildflowers”, now at the Print Center New York, is the first monograph exhibition focused on artists for decades, and a rare opportunity to see Reddy’s work. (Reddy’s last major exhibition dates back to his solo exhibition at the Bronx Museum in 1981.) With Reddy’s Centennial “Heaven In a the Wildflower” brings together over fifty prints, sculptures, sculptures, pictograms and working materials, and borrows prints of borrowed materials and concepts from the artist’s real estate.
For curator Sarah Burney, the opportunity to attend the exhibition is a complete moment. “Looking back, it seems like everything is in this show,” Bernie told Observer. After studying printmaking at Wellesley College, she went to work at the Contemporary South Asian Art Gallery, then became the studio manager of contemporary South Asian artist Zarina Hashmi, and manager of shows and exhibitions at Robert Blackburn’s print studio. Blackburn is a close friend of Reddy, Hashmi is a student and friend of Reddy and the godfather of Reddy’s daughter Apu. “I met Krishna in Hashmi’s studio, but he has always been this very respected teacher figure, so my biggest regret is that I didn’t sit down and talk to him about his art,” Bernie said.
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Her chance to reconnect with Reddy is “a paradise in the wildflowers,” but she isn’t the only person in the world of printmaking whose career trajectory is deeply influenced by him. The legacy of his pedagogy was evident at the exhibition’s opening ceremony, with more than 400 people in the print community bravely attending the winter evening. “So many people, including a guerrilla girl, told me that Reddy was their printmaking professor, which is a beautiful testament to his community-building efforts and dedication,” Bernie said.
Reddy’s extensive work on art and his teaching guides her approach to planning. “Reading his philosophy unleashed his technological innovation, his art and pedagogy,” she explained. She added that she browsed every box of Krishna Reddy’s papers in the special collection at NYU, where Reddy taught prints. But, aside from the invisible “Paradise in Wildflowers” exploring Reddy’s studio practice, Bernie took a look at the insight and spent time in his studio after extensive conversations with Krishna’s legacy.
In fact, one of the most interesting parts of the exhibition is the display of the artist’s modified tools and working materials, which come from the dental toolkit. Traditionally, people paint plates on plates, but Reddy sees the possibility of sculpture on the plates. He was less interested in the technical specifications of the print itself, but was fascinated by the various visual painting effects he might have created.
“Paradise among Wild Flowers” also emphasizes the Indian roots of Reddy’s artistic voice and challenges the shared reading of Reddy’s works, as Reddy’s works are learned and borrowed from artistic reasons in Paris and New York. “Whenever people talk about Krishna, they start the clock from Atelier 17 when they come to Europe, as if Europe made him his,” Bernie said. “When I did the research, I realized that Reddy left India as a fully mature artist.” He studied in Santiniketan, with the school’s Rabindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose) was established as part of the campaign to quit smoking in India and lived through the division and famine in Bangladesh. Burney included his Bengal famine drawings in the exhibition, a correction to the misunderstanding of Reddy’s art development. “We need to talk about early years in Europe. For me, he thinks he is a subject, and his deep philosophical approach to art and life and teaching was based on early days in India, which is why I really want to implant glass from early works into the exhibition.”
As for the title of the show, Krishna’s way of looking at art is to find “a paradise among wild flowers.” He pays great attention to details – expecting rather than; accidents like ink and unmixed ink become a great time to find viscosity. An artist who sees education as his primary mission and has no concern for the fluctuations and preferences of the art market, Reddy has created many unwritten works, printing the amount he needs to explore the imaginative but socially sensitive image of his life around him.
“Krishna Reddy: Paradise in Wildflowers” at the Printing Center in New York until May 21, 2025.
