Ranna’s new rhythm

"Rhythmic strokes resonate with clarity and precision to form a network of designed scapes, quietly and in congruence with each other...The world of Behram Ranna celebrates all the rudiments of art with the acumen and élan of a colorist. Ranna’s entry into the plastic arts from the fraternal world of advertising is in itself, a definition of the preferred role by the artist,” mentions the catalog announcing Ranna’s exhibition of abstracts at Bombay’s Jehangir Art Gallery from February 9-15, 2004.

Preferring not to title his exhibits, Ranna conveys that his "mixed media” style is "very different from the normal.” On the same canvas or paper which constitutes his background he may use enamel, oil, acrylic, crayons, water colors, transparent ink. "Blobs, blotches, drops and planes of pigment explode on the canvas with the impetuosity and awareness of an abstract expressionist. Colors seem to run riot but are, in actual fact, controlled and monitored by the artist with a terrific sense of detail... There is, no doubt, a lyrical quality in the way in which the lines, colors and structures of each painting coagulate and settle after meandering through the surface of the canvas...” states the catalog.

Ranna: "terrific sense of detail”

Thirty of Ranna’s works were on view, the largest being 4 ft x 5 ft and the smallest 1 ft x 1.5 ft (inclusive of the frame). Priced from Rs 7,000 to Rs 2,00,000 Ranna was happy that from among his favorites two were promptly bought by Maureen Wadia of Bombay Dyeing. This time 40 percent of his works found buyers, reveals Ranna. In fact after the exhibition seven of his exhibits were taken to Singapore to be displayed there.

While earlier exhibitions of Ranna at the Taj Art Gallery in 1983, ’85, ’90 and ’93, at the Bajaj Art Gallery in 1986 and at the Jehangir Art Gallery in 1987, ’95 and ’99 saw many of his realistic paintings, this time it was only abstracts although there was no central theme. Depending on the scope for improvement he sees in his pieces he may take from one week to one month to finish each piece, says Ranna. He prefers to work on four or five paintings at the same time. After his retirement 61-year-old Ranna says he has limited his painting work to four or five hours a day unless there are deadlines to be met or some assignment to be delivered.