Sri-Lankan born, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is a contemporary artist. He is interested in global histories and languages of figurative representation and their intersections with issues relating to the politics of idolatry, the monument, gender, race and religiosity. He has specific interests in South Asian forms and imagery. While he is best known for his inventive and somewhat unorthodox approach to ceramic media, his material vernacular is broad. He has worked imaginatively with a range of sculptural materials including bronze, concrete, neon, LED and fibreglass.

Selected Works
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Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Idols of Mud and Water, 2023.
Installation views, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland. Commissioned by Tramway, Glasgow and funded by Creative Australia, Creative Scotland and the Henry Moore Foundation. Photography by Keith Hunter.

Avatar Towers 2020

installation view, Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photo Mark Pokorny.

Earth Dieties 2021

Installation view, Dark MOFO, Tasmania.

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Earth Deities, 2022.
Installation view, Vivid Sydney, Hickson Road Reserve. Photography by Mark Pokorny.

Big Idol 2016

earthenware, glaze, gold lustre, platinum lustre, enamel, porcelain, polystyrene
352 × 258 × 100 cm
495 × 258 × 125 cm (with plinth)

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Slaying Monsters, Kuandu Biennale, 2016.
Installation view, Kuandu National Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan.

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, The Cave, The National: New Australian Art, 2017.
Installation view, Carriageworks, Eora/Sydney. Courtesy the artist and Carriageworks.

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, False Gods, 2019.
Installation view, Sullivan+Strumpf, Eora/Sydney. Photography by Mark Pokorny.

Bi Warrior Figure 2022

bronze sculpture on custom made spray painted mild steel plinth
(unique kinetic edition includes motor built into the plinth)
181.5 x 95 x 52 cm (total)
141 x 60 x 18 cm (sculpture)
40.5 x 95 x 52 (plinth)
Edition of 3 + 2 Artist's Proofs + 1 unique kinetic edition

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Undergod, 2023.
Installation view, Sullivan+Strumpf, Naarm/Melbourne. Photography by Christian Capurro.

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Undergod, 2023.

Blue spiky head with gold teeth 2021

earthenware
74 × 41 × 27cm

Double-headed Warrior 2023

earthenware and glaze

95 x 47 x 38 cm

Available Works
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About

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran

Biography

Lives and works in Sydney, Australia
Born 1988, Colombo Sri-Lanka

Sri-Lankan born, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran is a contemporary artist. He is interested in global histories and languages of figurative representation and their intersections with issues relating to the politics of idolatry, the monument, gender, race and religiosity. He has specific interests in South Asian forms and imagery. While he is best known for his inventive and somewhat unorthodox approach to ceramic media, his material vernacular is broad. He has worked imaginatively with a range of sculptural materials including bronze, concrete, neon, LED and fibreglass.

His signature neo-expressionist and polychromatic style has been adapted for works in museums, festivals, multi-art centres and the public domain. This has included significant presentations at the National Gallery of Australia, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Dhaka Art Summit, Art Basel Hong Kong and Dark Mofo festival. His first major permanent public artwork was recently installed at the entrance of the new HOTA gallery.

While Nithiyendran is often presented to the public in a diverse range of print, online and television media related to art, culture and fashion, his contributions to contemporary art and culture have also been acknowledged in various ways. In 2019, he received a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship which recognised his outstanding talent and exceptional professional courage. This same year he was included Thames and Hudson’s book, ‘100 Sculptors of Tomorrow’; a global survey of cutting edge, sculptural practice and presented work in the largest historical survey of LGBTQ Asian Art at the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre.

In 2020, The Art Gallery of New South Wales acquired his monumental work ‘Avatar Towers’. This is an installation of 70 ceramic and bronze figures originally presented in the gallery’s historic vestibule. His work is held in various other public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, The Art Gallery of Western Australia, The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, The Ian Potter Museum of Art and the Shepparton Art Museum.

Photography by Bowen Arico

Sullivan+Strumpf acknowledge the Indigenous People of this land, the traditional custodians on whose Country we work, live and learn. We pay respect to Elders, past and present, and recognise their continued connection to culture, land, waters and community.

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