Thota Vaikuntam

Thota Vaikuntam was born in Andhra Pradesh and studied at the college of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad. In 1971, he won the Lalit Kala Academy Fellowship to study at the M.S. University, Baroda. He has had several Solo Shows in Delhi, Mumbai and cities in South India. His works have also been exhibited in New York, London, Dubai Birmingham and Kassel. His works was shown at the V11 Triennale, Deli and he has also exhibited with Saffronart in Los Angeles and Hong Kong 2001. He won the Bharat Biennale Award, Bhopal in 1988 and as the National Award for Painting from the Government of India in 1993. He lives and works in Hyderabad.

T. Vaikuntam draws a lot of inspiration for his work from the rural areas of the state of Andhra Pradesh. The men and women of his village have often been depicted particularly the Telangana women. He uses only primary colors usually in tempera and watercolor, on paper. The love for this subject can be traced back to his childhood, when he was fascinated by the impersonations of women characters by male artists of the theater groups that performed in his village.

“…In private I began sketching images which were very Indian, but which I thought were quite shocking. They were very obviously inspired by the spiritual and sensuous tradition that’s part of Indian mythology and art. I hid them from public eye, because I thought they were very sexual.” - T.Vaikuntam in an interview with Saffronart

Quick Shop

Quick Shop

Quick Shop

Quick Shop

Quick Shop

Quick Shop