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for R. M. Palaniappan
R. M. Palaniappan
India, born 1957
Place of BirthTamil Nādu, India, Asia
BiographyRamanathan Palaniappan received a diploma in fine arts and a post-diploma in industrial design from the Government College of Arts and Crafts in Madras (present-day Chennai), as well as grants to visit France and to study at Oxford University. Charles Stroh was key in procuring a Fulbright scholarship in 1993 for Palaniappan to be an Artist-in-Residence at the Art Academy in Cincinnati, the Tamarind Institute, and at Kansas State University. Palaniappan’s interest in space, time, and technology has led him to invent a series of alien planets and spacecraft which he has depicted across several print series. These are often accompanied by documentation created by Palaniappan to resemble official aeronautic and astronomic specifications which are then given a manufactured authenticity through the incorporation of embossing, wax seals, and rubber stamps. He considers flight to be an activity which transcends space and time; the mathematical equations and numerical designations reflect his fascination with the simultaneously finite and infinite qualities of numbers. 