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Anand Manchiraju
Anand Manchiraju
BIO
Anand Swaroop Manchiraju, Biography
I was born in Eluru, AP, India. Since childhood, I used to observe my father Sri M.S. Murthy, while he was painting and when he finished his work, I used to clean his brushes. Often, I used same brushes to come up with my own art. I followed my passion for art and developed my unique style. In a career spanning more than 50 plus years as a professional artist and have done over 3000 artwork on various subject matter such as landscapes, portraits, still life, nudes, animals, travel, and botanicals, on different media such as oils on canvas, acrylic on canvas, water colors on paper, etc.
I studied photography in the JNTU Government College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad and furthering my education by taking Color Photo Technology at the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun. Upon graduation, I joined Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited, Rishikesh Uttaranchal, as Artist and Photographer. I have also been serving as the President of Andhra Academy of Arts, Vijayawada for three decades for the cause and propagation of art.
Living close to Himalayan mountains I got inspired by the splendours of nature and Ganga river. As a result, nature is often the centerpiece of my work. My sense of the personal, cultural and world view can be seen in my painting on Indian Tribes and Tribal Dances, Gods such as Siva, Krishna, Ganesha, Buddha, Saints, etc. Using photography skills and my innate innovativeness, I have extensively experimented using photo chemicals on bromide and painting on used X-ray film after treating them. I am one of the very few in the world to do artwork in this medium. In recent past, I have travelled around the world visiting my children. Hence city abstracts have also become a recurrent theme.
My work has been exhibited in many prestigious galleries in India. My first exhibition was in the Raj Bhawan, Hyderabad in the year 1968. Since then, I have exhibited my work at Jehangir Art Gallery (Mumbai), Nehru Centre (Mumbai), Bajaj Art Gallery (Mumbai), Lalit Kala Academy (New Delhi), India International Center (New Delhi), Triveni Art Gallery (New Delhi), Academy of Fine Art (Kolkatta), Lalit Kala Academy (Chennai), Muse Art gallery (Hyderabad), State Gallery of Fine Arts (Hyderabad). I have received several state and national level awards. These exhibitions received critical applause from the press & T.V media as well as enthusiastic response from the art lovers. My artwork is in private collections and galleries around the world.
More recently, I have also participated and exhibited in several international juried exhibitions both online and offline such as Studio Montclair NJ; Fusion Art, Palm Springs, CA; Art impact International; Awesome Art Inc; Youth for Human Rights, Washington DC; Artivita Online Art; Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery; The Contemporary Art Gallery Online; Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Carmichael, CA ; Chico Art Center, Chico, CA, and many others.
When I reflect upon my long association with art, I find that the creative process is just as intriguing and rewarding as the final outcome of my projects. This desire to create has always been strong even when others have tried to dissuade me. The internal push to create has given
me an appreciation for the process of exploration, patience and the beauty of art. I believe this creative and explorative journey has become about freedom to create and the freedom to express myself.
STATEMENT
I am an artist and an experimentalist at heart. I love to experiment with art style, medium and the tools I use. I have worked on traditional oils on canvas, acrylics on canvas to my own unique mediums- photographic chemicals on bromides (which I call photo-paintings) and oil and acrylic on x-ray films. My work includes hundreds of painting in different mediums and styles with themes ranging from nature to different art forms to ancient Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
Having lived in rustic Himalayan regions for forty years, one of my most recurring painting themes is Himalayan landscapes and nature in both impressionistic and abstract styles. However, now I proposing to exhibit my more recent love towards cities, through my cityscapes. In the last decade or so, I have been travelling around the world, living substantial times in cities in US and India with my children, and that's when my companionship with cities started. Cities make me feel awed with the tall buildings, colorful billboards, traffic and busy people. To me, both Himalayas and buildings are trying to reach the skies, while one does it in the cool solitude, the other are vibrant societies. Cities show me stories in every person's face and every building's skin- sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometime funny, sometimes silly, but none of them stop or stare. Looking at them, I keep thinking if cities are places to make life or if they are places that are missing LIFE.
I try and find answers for such thoughts through my paintings. Integrating nature- rain, birds into places with no space for nature, and adding warm colors to the otherwise neutral tones of the buildings, are some of my favorite ways of bringing life and character to my FIGARETIVE paintings depicting women.
The style of my paintings is a mixture of both traditional and modern approaches. I used many types of tools and techniques that I have developed over the years to give expressiveness to my paintings. Most of these are oil on canvas that are made using traditional tools like palette knife and some of my own unique tools such as coconut leaves, single edge blades, hair combs, broom sticks etc. This use of different tools give an explosive texture to these impasto paintings. I feel, my cityscapes are fusions of my experiences with Himalayas and expectations of FIGURATIVE WORKS DEPICTING WOMEN.
Primary
Be it in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art/architecture, math) or nothing, women primarily drive this world. To me, they are like primary colors. In different hues, tints, tones and shades they add beauty to life, and life to humans.
Grace
Even in day and time filled with gloom and despair, women show grace. They bring in movement to stillness and add light to darkness. Women teach us to celebrate life as is.
Anand Manchiraju
India
Evident in Harmony
Evident in Harmony:
The quality of women to blend into any situation and yet stand out in any role amazes me the most. This work is inspired by this feeling of mine. It also depicts their best qualities- patience and warmth that help them conquer their dreams and anything they aim for.
