Ramalingam Muthukrishnan

M.Ramalingam is an Artist with considerable achievement to his credit. He is Deaf since birth and later developed Usher Syndrome (Narrowing/tunnel vision & night blindness). M. Ramalingam, a painter and printmaker, received his B.F.A. in Painting from the Government College of Arts, Chennai, India and has received numerous grants and awards, including artist-in-residence scholarships at Vermont Studio Center as well as residencies in Great Britain, Brazil, South Korea, France and Japan. He has also taught painting and printmaking at Gallaudet University and has exhibited his paintings in both group and solo exhibitions.

He has conducted art exhibitions and attended workshops (Print making) throughout the country and abroad (Brazil, USA, Russia, UK, Spain, South Korea, Japan and France). He has received numerous awards including Junior Fellowship under the Department of Culture, Government of India; Commonwealth Foundation, UK; British Council Visitorship, UK; Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi, India; Charles Wallace Trust, UK; Shape, London, UK, VSC Artist grant, Vermont, USA, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, USA,UNESCO/Aschberg Bursary, Paris, France ,Japan Foundation and Valparaiso Foundation, Spain, Travel grant- Lalit Kala Akademi, 2018.

Art is born within him, it is born out of the restlessness which is the product of the disturbances, distances and the need for communication that Ramalingam experiences as a deaf individual and who is also losing his vision. He hs traversed his creative journey during the last 4 decades using a figurative idiom that is rooted in his little world of what he sees, what he feels and what he misses out as a hearing-impaired person, as he is able to compensate it with his imagination. He express his deepest feelings which he is unable to speak through words as everybody else, through the medium of his painting. That is the core of his creative journey.

Though figurative compositions are his legacy, more recently he has been concentrating on feminine forms. The females that live in his imagination and symbolism, are taken out of his life experiences. They are fragile yet strong, delicate yet powerful, symbols of feminine felicity.

As he observe the world around him in silence the women of his world emerge in fascinating forms. These surreal forms display body and spirit of womanhood in its simplicity, vulnerability, and abandonment.

The undulating lines of these female bodies are enhanced further with textural details using hatchings and lines tone on tone. The contrasting colours, and the interplay of textured forms against flat background evokes a sense of alienation and yearning. The lack of light and shade and three- dimensionality gives the painting a surreal feeling.

Curriculum Vitae

Artist’s Name: Ramalingam Muthukrishnan

Date of Birth and place: 30th January,1957, Chennai, India

Education: 1980 Govt. College of Arts, Chennai, India- B F A (Painting)

Artist-in-Residence

2019 Art Heart Monsoon Art Camp,Kolwan,India

2018 La Porte Peinte, Noyers Sur Serein, France

2013 YMCA, Chennai, India

2011 Fundacion Valparaiso, Spain

2010 Can Serrat International Artist Residency, Spain

2010 Regional Art Festival, LKA, Chennai and Alva, Karnataka, India

2007 Gallaudet University, USA

2004-05 Sacatar Foundation, Brazil

1997 & 1999 Vermont Studio Centre, USA

1995 Falmouth College of Arts, Falmouth, UK

1989 Oxford Print Making, Oxford, UK

Grant/Award

2019 Art Heart Monsoon Art Camp,Kolwan,India

2017-18 Senior Fellowship for Outstanding Person in the Field of Culture by MOC, Govt. of India 2018 Grant-La Porte Peinte, Noyers Sur Serein, France

2018 Travel Grant- Lalit Kala Akademi, Govt. of India

2012 National Award for the Outstanding Creative Adult Persons with Disabilities, India

2011 Grant-Fundacion Valparaiso, Spain

2012,2009 Travel Grant & Financial Assistance -Japan Foundation

2011,2007,2006 &1989 Travel Grant-Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Delhi, India

2010 Grant- Can Serrat, Spain

2007 Guest Artist Residency Series (GRAS), Gallaudet University, USA

2004-05 UNESCO/Aschberg Bursary

2001 AIFACS, New Delhi

1997,1999 Fellowship – Vermont Studio Centre, USA

1999-2000 Pollock-Krasner Foundation, USA

1995 & 2000 Charles Wallace Trust, UK

Solo exhibition

2019 Experimental Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

2011 Chitrakala Parishath(ABS – Karnataka Chapter),Bangalore,India

2007 Gallaudet University, USA

2006 Chola Art Gallery, Chennai, India

2006,2003 Artwalk Art Gallery, Oberoi Hotel, Mumbai, India

2004 Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore, India

2018,2003,1996 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

2019,2018,2001,2000,1998,1996 Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

2000 The Nehru Centre, London, UK

1999 Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, India

1999 Diorama Arts, London, UK

1999 Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1995 Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham, U.K

1995 The Art Centre Gallery, Lowestoft, Suffolk, U.K

Group exhibition

2019 60th National Exhibition of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi,Mumbai, India

2017 Indo- Asian Deaf Artist Exchange Exhibition, Chennai, India

2016,2015,2014 28th ,27th, 26th International Paintings Contest, Cuvio, Italy

2013 International Art Exhibition “Peace, heard the soul”, St. Petersburg Russia

2012Indo- Japan Deaf Artist Exchange Exhibition, Chennai, India

2017,2011,2010 Art Ability Exhibition, Malvern .PA USA

2010 Exhibition”- ABS Silver Anniversary, Chennai

2010 VSA International Art Festival, Washington DC, USA

2010 The Madras Canvas, ICC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2009 Indo-American Deaf Artist exchange exhibition, Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai, India

2009 The Madras Canvas II, Forum Art Gallery, Chennai

2010,2009 Asia Parrat Tokyo Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan

2009 Nehru Center, Mumbai, India

2008 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

2008 Regional Kala Mela, Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai, India

2008 Asia Deaf Artist Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan

2011,2007,2006 World Deaf Artists Exchange Exhibition, Gwangju, Korea

2005 Ayya Art Gallery, Chennai India

2005 Biblioteca Juracy Magalhaes, Brazil

2002 &1989 Deaf way Festival, Washington, USA

1999 &1997 Red Mill Gallery, USA

1995 International Deaf Artists Exhibition at St. John’s College, Cambridge University, UK

Website: http://ramalingam3011957.blogspot.com

Solo exhibition

Duration: N/A

Description: Solo Exhibition - 40 art works( Paintings and Drawings) displayed in Gallery. Paintings are large size 38x41 inches and Indian Ink Drawing Size 16x14 inches

People on road: Two people-Ramalingam the artist and his arts manager and support person.

Freight: necessary

Freight details: N/A

Ramalingam can deliver workshops and a talk accompanied by slides, which he has delivered at Art Institutes and Deaf School/Colleges.