Ratheesh T. is considered to be one of India’s most gifted painters. Born in 1980 in Kilimanoor, a small southern village situated in a dense forest, he moved to the city of Trivandrum to study art, and now maintains studios in both places.
Placing his family and himself in monumental, meticulously crafted paintings, Ratheesh foregrounds situations and moments that are intensely personal and moving. His works demonstrate an intense attentiveness toward the specificities of costume, expression, gesture and attitude, the potency of his vision made visible through his precise and humorous handling of his subject. Ratheesh's commitment to particularity enables him to resist the temptation to reduce the diverse parts of a painting to the homogeneity of a recognisable artistic écriture. No two surfaces are exactly identical in terms of texture and glow, smoothness or granularity. Nor is there anything random about this artist’s compositions, wherein each area is individually and thoughtfully rendered. Disquieting in their allusions, his paintings are part of an ongoing interrogation of Self, Family and Nation.
(Partly excerpted from the essay “Between The Riddle and The Exclamation — Recent Paintings by Ratheesh T.” by Ranjit Hoskote, 2018)
Born 1980 in Kerala, India
BFA (Painting), College of Fine Arts, Trivandrum
Lives and works in Trivandrum, Kerala
Solo Exhibitions
2020 India Art Fair, New Delhi. Presented by Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke
2018 'Ratheesh T. – Recent Paintings', Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2011 'Green Pond', catalogue essay by Gieve Patel, Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin
2007 'Moving Earth', catalogue essay by Gitanjali Dang and interview with Manoj Vyloor, Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 India Art Fair, presented by Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, New Delhi
2018 Nine Painters from Kerala, Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2017 'DWELLING', 10th Anniversary Show (Part II), curated by Ranjit Hoskote, Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2015 'Freude Schoener Goetter Funken - Am Anfang war das Kreuz', curated by Tilman and Gabriele Osterwold, Galerie ABTART, Stuttgart, Germany
2014 5th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan
2013 'Touched by Bhupen', Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2012 First Edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale, curated by Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu, Durbar Hall, Kochi
2011 'India is now...', Kunstverein Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
2011 'India Inclusive: Contemporary Art from India', curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland
2011 5th Anniversary Exhibition, Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2010 'Open', Zoya Museum, Slovakia
2008 ART FORUM Berlin, together with Jyothi Basu and Aji V.N; presented by Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2008 'Everything', 12 Artists from India, curated by Bose Krishnamachari for Willem Baars Projects, Westerhuis, Amsterdam
2006 'Min(e)dscapes', Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai
2005 'KAVA 1', Kashi Art Gallery, Kochi, Kerala
2005 'ROSL Arts Scholars Exhibition', Jerwood Space, London
Awards
2004 Royal Over-Seas League Scholarship
Public Collections
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Nasher Museum of Art, Durham, NC, USA
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India