Artist Anjani Reddy Showcases 'The Spectrum Within Me' at Maison D’Art in Banjara
An art exhibition titled 'The Spectrum Within Me', featuring works by veteran artist Anjani Reddy, is currently underway at Maison D’Art in Banjara, Hyderabad. Curated by Pooja Mallepula, the exhibition presents an expansive body of paintings inspired by the artist's multifaceted personal roles, relationships, memories, and everyday life, rendered through vibrant colours, depictions of women, dwellings, and nature.
Reddy, a retired professor and former head of the Painting Department at Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University (JNAFAU), noted that the showcase reflects the many stages of her life. Explaining that she never begins with a single predetermined concept, Reddy shared: “Life itself is full of so many layers. I was first a daughter, then a wife, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother. I was also a teacher and retired as a professor and head of the Painting Department at JNAFAU. I have played so many roles that I carry a very big spectrum within me. I cannot take up just one concept and work on it because everything is connected to me.”
Living in a joint family, Reddy maintains a dedicated schedule for her creative work after fulfilling her domestic responsibilities. She works uninterrupted in her upstairs studio and adheres to a firm household routine. “The time I accumulate during the day and carefully keep for my practice is precious to me. I have made my studio such an important part of my life that even if relatives come to meet me, they come upstairs. I don’t come down before three o’clock,” she explained.
Her artistic journey initially took shape when she rented a terrace studio near her home because there was not enough room for a large studio inside the house. Surrounded by badam, coconut, and mango trees, she observed the neighbourhood through the foliage, painting balconies, railings, clotheslines, and glimpses of domestic life. Reddy continued painting these dwelling scenes until around 2000, attracting prominent collectors including the Tatas, Birlas, and Bombay Parsis. In 1994, one of her works was featured in a Tata calendar alongside paintings by Jamini Roy and K.H. Ara.
Over the years, female figures, courtyards, village home memories, family gatherings, and wedding celebrations entered her visual vocabulary. Rather than sticking to a single comfortable style, Reddy approaches each canvas without preliminary drawings. “I never make a sketch or plan what I am going to paint. I like to let myself loose and see what comes out. Like the wind, which has no plan and can blow anywhere, I enjoy that freedom,” she noted.
That spontaneity also extends to her palette, where outdoor weather and grey skies quietly seep into her canvas when she pauses to clean her palette or drink water. Reddy deliberately chooses themes of optimism over sorrow. “I think I am a painter of hope. I don’t want to put my sad moments on a canvas and hang them on a wall. I wouldn’t even want to look at them myself, so why should I give that to the world? I want people to have something to look forward to, something that lifts their mood,” she said.
The exhibition 'The Spectrum Within Me' is scheduled to remain on view at Maison D’Art in Banjara until November 30.
