Sullivan+Strumpf to present Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran's new solo exhibition: False Gods
One of Asia-Pacific's leading contemporary art galleries, Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney is pleased to announce Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran's new solo exhibition, False Gods on 25 October - 16 November 2019.
Venue: Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney
Address: 799 Elizabeth St Zetland, Sydney NSW 2017 Australia
Date: 25 October - 16 November 2019
Ticket: Free
Web: https://www.sullivanstrumpf.com/artists/ramesh-mario/
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Address: 799 Elizabeth St Zetland, Sydney NSW 2017 Australia
Date: 25 October - 16 November 2019
Ticket: Free
Web: https://www.sullivanstrumpf.com/artists/ramesh-mario/
: https://www.instagram.com/sullivanstrumpf
: https://www.facebook.com/sullivanstrumpf
: https://twitter.com/sullivanstrumpf
Featuring new ceramic works, False Gods is a dramatic, large scale installation of larger-than-life sculptures of multiple fictional god-like and mythological figures that take their forms from studies of chickens, monkeys, fish and the human anatomy.
Sullivan+Strumpf, co-founder and director, Ursula Sullivan says the exhibition signals a new stylistic direction for the artist, who was recently awarded a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in recognition of outstanding talent and exceptional courage in his artistic practice.
"False Gods presents some of the artist's largest works to date, while extending his explorations of Western dualisms, anthropomorphism, post-humanism and gender politics," said Sullivan.
The exhibition takes its title from a recent essay on Nithiyendran's practice, by ABC Radio National's Daniel Browning, and considers idolatry and the monument in the context of figurative sculpture, religion and contemporary culture.
While the works are primarily made from ceramic media, the artist also incorporates neon, LED, optic fibre, synthetic hair, perspex, concrete, digitally printed fabric and metal. The use of lighting as an element of expression - a vernacular typically associated with advertising and material and digital cultures - is the result of collaboration with lighting designer, Mark Dyson.
"Animating these sculptures with electricity has shifted the way I think about ceramic media. I'm excited to present large scale works that embody years of research into materials and pressing ideas of our times," said artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran.
Nithiyendran's sculptural works creatively explore ways of thinking beyond the binary models and dualisms at the heart of Western philosophy and raise questions about the potential of rethinking these with reference to Eastern and other global philosophies.
False Gods is on view at Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney from 25 October - 16 November 2019. Entry is free. For more information, please visit www.sullivanstrumpf.com
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran
Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney, 799 Elizabeth St, Zetland NSW
25 October - 16 November 2019
Opening event on Friday, 25 October at 6-8pm, including artist talk at 5:30pm.
Recent solo presentations include Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2018) and Encounters, Art Basel Hong Kong 2018, Hong Kong (2018). In 2016 Nithiyendran exhibited Mud Men at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. At the time he was the youngest artist in the NGA's history to have a solo exhibition at the gallery. In the same year his solo exhibition, In The Beginning, was presented at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne.
Nithiyendran has exhibited in Slaying Monsters: Kuandu Biennale, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, 2017; The National, Carriageworks, 2017; Magic Object: 2016 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 2016. In 2015, he was the winner of the 2015 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award, Australia's richest and premier award for artists working in the medium of ceramics. In 2014, Nithiyendran was awarded the 2014 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (emerging) administered through Artspace and Arts NSW. Nithiyendran's work is held in various collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Ian Potter Museum of Art and the Shepparton Art Museum.
Nithiyendran holds a BA(UNSW), BFA (Hons. Class 1) and a Master of Fine Arts (research) from UNSW Art & Design. He has acquired various grants including the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship, Freedman Foundation Travelling Art Scholarship and various grants from the Australia Council.
Sullivan+Strumpf, co-founder and director, Ursula Sullivan says the exhibition signals a new stylistic direction for the artist, who was recently awarded a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in recognition of outstanding talent and exceptional courage in his artistic practice.
"False Gods presents some of the artist's largest works to date, while extending his explorations of Western dualisms, anthropomorphism, post-humanism and gender politics," said Sullivan.
The exhibition takes its title from a recent essay on Nithiyendran's practice, by ABC Radio National's Daniel Browning, and considers idolatry and the monument in the context of figurative sculpture, religion and contemporary culture.
While the works are primarily made from ceramic media, the artist also incorporates neon, LED, optic fibre, synthetic hair, perspex, concrete, digitally printed fabric and metal. The use of lighting as an element of expression - a vernacular typically associated with advertising and material and digital cultures - is the result of collaboration with lighting designer, Mark Dyson.
"Animating these sculptures with electricity has shifted the way I think about ceramic media. I'm excited to present large scale works that embody years of research into materials and pressing ideas of our times," said artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran.
Nithiyendran's sculptural works creatively explore ways of thinking beyond the binary models and dualisms at the heart of Western philosophy and raise questions about the potential of rethinking these with reference to Eastern and other global philosophies.
False Gods is on view at Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney from 25 October - 16 November 2019. Entry is free. For more information, please visit www.sullivanstrumpf.com
Exhibition Details
False Gods, 2019Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran
Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney, 799 Elizabeth St, Zetland NSW
25 October - 16 November 2019
Opening event on Friday, 25 October at 6-8pm, including artist talk at 5:30pm.
About Sullivan+Strumpf
Sullivan+Strumpf is one of Asia-Pacific's leading contemporary art galleries, representing the most engaging Australian and international artists of our time. Founded in 2005 by co-directors Ursula Sullivan and Joanna Strumpf, Sullivan+Strumpf has spaces in Sydney and Singapore and represents 38 established and emerging artists and artist estates from across the Asia-Pacific and East Asia. The gallery presents an ambitious program of diverse exhibitions, publications and talks, and an international art fair schedule spanning Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Sullivan+Strumpf has proudly helped to foster the careers of some of the most significant contemporary artists in the region and remains dedicated to supporting artists to realise their visions and forge long-term artistic careers. www.sullivanstrumpf.comRamesh Mario Nithiyendran Bio
Sri Lankan-born, Sydney-based artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran creates rough-edged, vibrant, new-age idols. He experiments with form and scale in the context of figurative sculpture to explore politics of sex, the monument, gender and organised religion. He capitalises upon the symbolism of clay as fundamental corporeal matter. Nithiyendran draws upon his Hindu and Christian heritage as reference points as well as a large range of sources including the internet, pornography, fashion and art history. Self-portraits make frequent appearances and the dual presence of male and female organs suggest gender fluid realms of new possibilities.Recent solo presentations include Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2018) and Encounters, Art Basel Hong Kong 2018, Hong Kong (2018). In 2016 Nithiyendran exhibited Mud Men at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. At the time he was the youngest artist in the NGA's history to have a solo exhibition at the gallery. In the same year his solo exhibition, In The Beginning, was presented at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne.
Nithiyendran has exhibited in Slaying Monsters: Kuandu Biennale, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, 2017; The National, Carriageworks, 2017; Magic Object: 2016 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 2016. In 2015, he was the winner of the 2015 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award, Australia's richest and premier award for artists working in the medium of ceramics. In 2014, Nithiyendran was awarded the 2014 NSW Visual Arts Fellowship (emerging) administered through Artspace and Arts NSW. Nithiyendran's work is held in various collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Ian Potter Museum of Art and the Shepparton Art Museum.
Nithiyendran holds a BA(UNSW), BFA (Hons. Class 1) and a Master of Fine Arts (research) from UNSW Art & Design. He has acquired various grants including the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship, Freedman Foundation Travelling Art Scholarship and various grants from the Australia Council.