Jogen Chowdhury

Thota Vaikuntam was born in Andhra Pradesh in 1942 and in 1970, earned a Diploma in Painting from the College of Fine Arts and Architecture in Hyderabad. The following year he was awarded the Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship which allowed him to further pursue art at M.S. University in Baroda.

His works are predominantly inspired by the life he led in his village and the residents he encountered during the time. He immortalises the simple yet profound moments of rural life in his impressive paintings. The simplicity and daily rituals of villagers are depicted through his works where the subjects are seen celebrating festivals, doing household chores, at temples and working in fields. His preoccupation with women has been evident since childhood, wherein he would attend performances of male dancers and actors impersonating women characters. Since then, he has focused a large part of his oeuvre on his female characters.

The artist's works are rooted in Indian culture, not only in the subjects but also in his use of colours such as red, orange and green. He relies on largely primary colours as he believes composite shades do not appear organically in nature and hence, does not blend his colours for the same reason. This results in stark contrasts throughout his works that are vivid and lend to the characters' depth.

The artist has held several solo exhibitions of his works in various cities across India including New Delhi and Mumbai. They have also been exhibited in London, Dubai, New York and Kassel among others.

"We all are decorative by nature. Men or women, we love to decorate ourselves with jewellery, with flowers, with clothes, bindis, cosmetics..."