Thota Vaikuntam

Thota Vaikuntam hails from Andhra Pradesh in southern India and finds his inspiration in the rural areas of the state. The men and women of his village are often the central characters in his work. The women of Telangana, in particular, are frequent subjects in his works. The obsession dates back to his childhood when he was fascinated by the male artists who used to impersonate female characters in the traveling theatre groups that performed in his village. He admits that he finds the women of his village very sensual and that he is only trying to capture their vitality.

In an interview with Saffronart, the artist explains his early apprehensions regarding art. Privately, I started sketching images that were very Indian, but I found them quite shocking. They were inspired by the spiritual and sensual tradition that is part of Indian mythology and art. I hid them from public view because I thought they were very sexual.

Vaikuntam's art has a sense of strength, a power that emanates from the paint or charcoal he applies to the surface, from his controlled lines and the fine strokes he executes. He generally uses only primary colors, as he believes that composite colors do not exist in nature and are therefore unnatural. As he explains, I like to use intense primary colors, which give a sense of character and depth to my paintings. Like red, saffron, and even orange, because they are quintessentially Indian colors. I don't like to use colors that are a mixture of two, because they are unnatural, they don't exist in our environment, in our everyday life.

Born in 1942 in Boorugupali, Andhra Pradesh, T. Vaikuntam completed a Diploma in Painting from the College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad, in 1970, and then another in Painting and Printmaking from the College of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, in 1972. He held his first solo exhibition at the Kala Bhavan, Hyderabad in 1973, and has since held regular exhibitions at various galleries in Hyderabad, Bangalore, New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai. His most recent exhibitions have been Yes, I am He, organized by India Fine Art at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2007; Telangana Inheritance of a Dream Lost, at Art Alive, New Delhi, also in 2007; and Mukham at Sanskriti Art Gallery, Kolkata in 2006.

Recent group exhibitions featuring Vaikuntam's work include Indian Harvest, presented by Crimson - the Art Resource, Bangalore, at SG Private Bank, Singapore in 2009; The Root of Everything, at Mementos Gallery, Bangalore in 2009; Post Independence Masters, at Aicon Gallery, New York in 2008; 6 Artists Show, at 1x1 Gallery, Dubai in 2006; Tradition and Change, at Arts India, New York in 2002; and Ignition, at Crimson Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2000.

Among his numerous honors are the 1998 National Art Award, the 2009 National Art Award Painting Award, which Vaikuntam received in 1993, and the Bharat Bhavan Biennial Award, Bhopal, which he received in 1988-89.

The artist lives and works in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

BORN

1942 Boorugupali Karimnagar Andhra Pradesh

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1971-72 Painting and Printmaking, Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Scholarship from Lalit Kala Academy, Andhra Pradesh

1965-70 Diploma in Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015 The Telangana Icons, presented by Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi at Grosvenor Gallery, London

2011 Memoire du passe 1979-1999, Latitude 28, New Delhi

2011 Metamorphosis The Changing World of Thota Vaikuntam, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2009-10 Saffron.Vermilion.Turmeric, Indigo Blue Art, Singapore

2007 Yes, I am He, organized by India Fine Art, India Fine Art, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay

2007 Telangana Inheritance of a Dream Lost, Art Alive, New Delhi

2006 Mukham, Sanskriti Art Gallery, Calcutta

2005 Telangana Men and Women, Arts India, California

2005 Naupu Telupu, India Fine Art, Bombay

2005 Retrospective Exhibition, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi, London

2004 Kuhu Art Gallery, London

2003 Larger Than Life - Vaikuntams Women, Arts India, New York, and The Guild, Mumbai

2003 Portraits, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

2001 Memories of Telangana, Sama, New Delhi

2000 Mother, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

1999 Gallery 678, New York

1998 My Telangana Images, Mumbai

1998 Vision and Response, Renaissance, Bangalore

1996 Surya Gallery, Hyderabad

1996 The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai

1995-97 New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad

1994-95 Crimson Gallery, Bangalore

1994-95 I.T.C. Welcome Group, Hyderabad

1994 Surya Gallery, Hyderabad and Gallerie 88, Calcutta

1992 Gallery Kufa, London

1992 Kessel, Chennai and Mumbai

1991 Gallery Espace, New Delhi

1990 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1988-89 Max Mueller Bhavan, Hyderabad and Grindlays Bank Gallery, Chennai

1985 Drawings Exhibition, Kala Bhavan, Hyderabad

1982-83 Hyderabad Art Society, Hyderabad

1980 Charcoal Drawings Exhibition on the Mother Series, Kala Bhavan, Hyderabad

1978 Ink and Wash Drawings Exhibition, Kala Bhavan, Hyderabad

1978 Prints Exhibition, Alliance Francaise, Bangalore

1975-77 Ink Drawings, Kala Bhavan, Hyderabad

1974 Solo Small Drawings Exhibition, Hyderabad Art Society, Hyderabad

1972-73 Kala Bhavan, Hyderabad

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011 Adbhutam Rasa in Indian Art, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata

2011 Aureus 2011, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi

2010-11 Figure Landscape Part Two, Aicon Gallery, London

2010 Figure Landscape Part One, Aicon Gallery, New York

2010 The Living Insignia, Gallery Ensign, New Delhi

2010 Modern Folk The Folk Art Roots of the Modernist Avant-Garde, Aicon Gallery, New York

2010 Black is Beautiful, India Fine Art, Bombay

2009 Entity, in association with the Asian Academy of Film and Television Arts at M.E.C. Art Gallery, New Delhi

2009 The Root of Everything, Gallery Mementos, Bangalore

2009 Gallery Space, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

2008 Stellar Configuration, presented by Vinyasa Premier Art Gallery, Chennai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2008 Post Independence Masters, Aicon Gallery, New York

2008 Freedom 2008 Sixty Years After Indian Independence, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata

2008 Pravah, Art , New Delhi

2007 Screen Prints, presented by Archer Graphic Studio at Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2007 Rising Of The Phoneix A Tribute To Livelihood, Hasta Gallery, Hyderabad

2007 Self and the Selfless, Hasta Gallery, Hyderabad

2007 The Workshop, India Fine Art, Mumbai

2006 Drawing Show an Act of Art II, Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

2006 Opening Show, India Fine Art, Mumbai

2006 6 Artist Exhibition, 1 x 1 Gallery, Dubai

2006 Inaugural Exhibition, Arts Pilgrim, London

2005 Evoking Rasa in Luminous Visions - Indian Art, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA

2005 Divine Inspiration, India Fine Art, Bombay

2004 Confluence, Arts India, California

2003 Faces, Art Alive, New Delhi

2003 Kuhu Art Gallery, London

2003 Hyderabad with Love, India Fine Art, Hyderabad, Bombay

2002 Tradition and Change, Arts India, New York

2001 A Panorama of Indian Contemporary Art, Art Circle, The Guild

2000 Dubai Creative 2000

2000 Menaz Art Gallery

2000 Faces Design Art, Dubai

2000 Ignition, Crimson Art Gallery, Bombay

2000 Mask, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi

1999 Sans Tache, Bombay

1999 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai

1999 Gallery Ganesha, New Delhi

1998 Group exhibition in Singapore

1998 Threshold, Vishakapatnam

1998 Tempera, Art Today, New Delhi

1998 Gallery Ganesha, New Delhi

1998 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai

1997 Gallery Ganesha, New Delhi

1996 Chamatkara - Myth and Magic in Indian Art, Whitley Art Gallery, London

1995 Art for CRY, Mumbai

1995 Gallery Ganesha, New Delhi

1995 Gallerie 88, Kolkata

1995 Autumn Exhibition, All India Fine Art and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi

1995 Surya Gallery, Hyderabad

1995 Woman, organized by The Gallery, Singapore, Hong Kong

1994-95 Contemporary Miniatures, Center of International Modern Art CIMA Gallery, Kolkata

1994 Art in Miniature Form, Renaissance, Bangalore

1994 Gallery Ganesha, New Delhi

1994 India Encounter II, Lee Arthur Studio, New York

1993 Anniversary Exhibition, Gallery 88, Kolkata

1993 Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata

1993 Summer Show, The Gallery, Chennai

1993 Birla Academy of Art and Culture Silver Jubilee Exhibition, Bombay

1993 Wide Angle, Sarla Art Centre, Bangalore Sansriti

1992 Art Gallery, Calcutta

1992 Summer Show, Hyderabad

1992 Help Age India, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay'

1992 Art Encounter, Kessel

1992 Gallerie 88, Bangalore

1992 Shraddha Saharpan, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay

1991 Images of Rural India, Max Mueller Bhavan, Hyderabad

1991 The Collectors Choice, Society for Promotion of Art, Hyderabad

1991 Gallery Espace, New Delhi

1990 Five Artists, L. V. Prasad Eye Institute and CCMB Scientific Institute, Hyderabad

1990 Sarla Art Gallery, Bangalore

1990 The Gallery, Chennai

1988-89 Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad

1989 Max Mueller Bhavan, Hyderabad

PARTICIPATIONS

2014 Ode to Monumental Celebration, Visuality, and Ideology, presented by Saffronart at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2013-14 Transition, 20th Anniversary Exhibition, CIMA International Centre for Modern Art, Kolkata

2011 Ethos V Indian Art Through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore

2010 Masters Corner, organized by Indian Contemporary Art Journal at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India International Art Fair, New Delhi

2010 Contemporary Printmaking In India, presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 Summer Exhibition 2010, CIMA International Centre for Modern Art, Kolkata

2009 Entity, Annual Exhibition, M.E.C Art Gallery, New Delhi

2007 Exhibition of the Year, M.E.C Art Gallery, New Delhi 17th Anniversary, Gallery Sanskriti, Kolkata

2007 Summer Show 2007, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata

2006 CIMA Annual 2006, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata

1995 6th Anniversary Exhibition, Ganesha Gallery, New Delhi

1994 1st Anniversary Exhibition, Surya Gallery, Hyderabad

1991 7th Triennial, India

1988-89 Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

HONORS AND AWARD

1993 National Award for Painting

1988-89 Biennale Award, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

1988-89 Daasi National Award for Art Direction in Film

1985 Hyderabad Art Society Award, Andhra Pradesh Lalit Kala Academy

1982-83 Hyderabad Art Society Award, Andhra Pradesh Lalit Kala Academy

1979 Mahakoshal Kala Samithi, Madhya Pradesh

1979 Academy of Fine Arts Award, Calcutta

1979 Chitra Kala Parishad Award, Bangalore

1975-77 Second Prize, Hyderabad Art Society, Andhra Pradesh Lalit Kala Academy

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