Krishna Reddy's Demonstrators
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When does a gathering become a force capable of changing history?
In Demonstrators, Krishna Reddy captures the energy of student protest through a dense field of rising forms. Figures emerge with arms raised, their bodies gathering into the rhythm of a crowd. Layered colours and deeply worked lines evoke movement, tension and solidarity.
Reddy created the work in Paris in 1968, amid student demonstrations, university occupations and workers' strikes. He witnessed people questioning authority and demanding political, social and cultural freedom.
Many also consider this protest and the ideas associated with it as a pivotal moment to help further define the birth of postmodernism.
This experience shaped his image of a crowd entering public space and asserting its collective voice.
A pioneering modern printmaker, Reddy helped develop viscosity printing at Atelier 17, enabling several colours to be printed from a single plate. In Demonstrators, colours meet, surfaces resist and forms rise from the plate, mirroring the pressure of protest.
The exhibition also presents Reddy's 1968-69 Demonstrators in synthetic resin, translating raised arms and closely gathered bodies into sculptural form. Together, the works explore the shared energy of protest across printmaking and sculpture.
Within SWARAJ: Revisualising India's Political History, these works extend self-rule beyond national independence. Swaraj lives in the courage to question authority, participate in public life and imagine a more equitable society. Demonstrators reminds us that political change can begin when individual convictions gather into a shared demand for transformation.
Artwork 1: Demonstrators
Artist: Krishna Reddy
Medium: Coloured engraving on paper
Date: 1968
Artwork 2: Demonstrators
Artist: Krishna Reddy
Medium: Synthetic Resin
Date: 1968-69
In Demonstrators, Krishna Reddy captures the energy of student protest through a dense field of rising forms. Figures emerge with arms raised, their bodies gathering into the rhythm of a crowd. Layered colours and deeply worked lines evoke movement, tension and solidarity.
Reddy created the work in Paris in 1968, amid student demonstrations, university occupations and workers' strikes. He witnessed people questioning authority and demanding political, social and cultural freedom.
Many also consider this protest and the ideas associated with it as a pivotal moment to help further define the birth of postmodernism.
This experience shaped his image of a crowd entering public space and asserting its collective voice.
A pioneering modern printmaker, Reddy helped develop viscosity printing at Atelier 17, enabling several colours to be printed from a single plate. In Demonstrators, colours meet, surfaces resist and forms rise from the plate, mirroring the pressure of protest.
The exhibition also presents Reddy's 1968-69 Demonstrators in synthetic resin, translating raised arms and closely gathered bodies into sculptural form. Together, the works explore the shared energy of protest across printmaking and sculpture.
Within SWARAJ: Revisualising India's Political History, these works extend self-rule beyond national independence. Swaraj lives in the courage to question authority, participate in public life and imagine a more equitable society. Demonstrators reminds us that political change can begin when individual convictions gather into a shared demand for transformation.
Artwork 1: Demonstrators
Artist: Krishna Reddy
Medium: Coloured engraving on paper
Date: 1968
Artwork 2: Demonstrators
Artist: Krishna Reddy
Medium: Synthetic Resin
Date: 1968-69
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Krishna Reddy's Demonstrators
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