About Raghava:
"Raghava KK is believed to be one of India's most successful emerging
artists. Exhibitions of his dreamlike watercolors on canvas, painted with his hands
and feet, are hosted by prominent galleries throughout India and abroad." Raghava's work features in many corporate and celebrity collections, as well as in the collections of art collectors and investors around the world.
Born and brought up in Bangalore, India, Raghava KK began his artistic career as a cartoonist for the Times of India, Asian Age, and other leading national newspapers. Raghava founded the Lee 'n' Rags Cartoon Academy in 1998, and began traveling and exhibiting his cartoons, educating children and adults alike about expression through cartooning.
It was in his travels that Raghava began experimenting with a new medium, painting. Encouraged by senior artists, such as Sayeed Raza (Paris) and Farid Belkahia (Marrakech), to try his hand at painting, Raghava developed his own unique style, in which he paints large watercolors on canvas, using only his hands and feet.
Since 2000, when actress-philanthropist Shabana Azmi hosted his first exhibition in Bangalore, Raghava has shown his work in over 13 countries and has been auctioned by museums and auction-houses, including the Queen's Museum, NY. He was the recipient of a grant from the Robinhood foundation in NY that designed a library inspired by Raghava's artwork.
Raghava represents a unique figure in contemporary art; an artist with the capacity to express the spirit of today's globalized world.
Recently, Raghava premiered his innovative performance art piece 'Anthropomorphism: When Paintings Dance' in Bangalore with the support of actor/director Kamal Haasan and in the United States at the American India Foundation's Annual Gala Event in San Jose, where he was invited as AIF's featured artist.
Raghava presently shuttles between his studios in Bangalore and Boston. |