Portrait of an artist as a young man

Here's you chance to catch a rare glimpse of the vintage etchings, paintings and objects created by veteran artist T Vaikuntam from his early days in a new show

Discovered first by artist Laxma Goud, painter Thota Vaikuntam's journey from his village Boorugupali from Telengana, Andhra Pradesh to art school in Hyderabad to his work being exhibited at noted galleries all over the world could be your favourite rags- to-riches story.u00a0 He started painting in relative anonymity, put in years of struggle and is today a well known name in the art world, Vaikuntam's works are known for their strong earthy influences and raw notes.



City-based Apparao Galleries is giving you an opportunity to take a peek into Vaikuntam's early works in the form of nine etchings, ten drawings, 16 paintings and three objects (painted chests) as part of a new show. Curated by owner Sharan Apparao, these works can best be described as 'Vintage Vaikuntam' in her own words. "These works have been sourced from private collectors from all over the country and are some of his earliest works," she says. "We first came across his works during the 80s when he was not as well known as he is today. These are works from his earlier period as an artist."



Though the show has had a series of viewings in other cities where Apparao has galleries, this is the first time that viewers will get an opportunity to view Vaikuntam's vintage artworks that are hard to come by. "What should draw viewers to his works is the fact that they are high energy and have a certain rawness to them which can only be attributed to the influence of Indian folk traditions in his art," she says. "He was one of the first artists in the country to use folk influences in his work in a contemporary way," she adds.

While honest and hardworking women from Telengana are repeatedly featured in his creations, Vaikuntam also credits his native village and its people and his mother as huge influences in his earlier works. Women play a significant role in most of his art and he focuses on their earthiness and sensuousness.

Trained in Fine Arts at the College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad and later another course in Painting and Printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Vadodara, a young T Vaikuntam tried to copy the styles of European painters for a couple of years and realised that the rigid Western style of training acquired in college was only keeping him away from developing a personal style. Gradually, he found himself turning towards Indian folk art traditions and mythology for inspiration, styles he found much more free flowing and flexible than rigid European art traditions. Returning to his native village for artistic inspiration was also one of the reasons that T Vaikuntam found back his creative voice.

Most of his artworks featured at the Apparao show are done in gouache on paper. Gouache is a heavier painting medium with pigments suspended in water. The heaviness lends a certain opaqueness when used on canvas. Vaikuntam is also known to use bright colours, show tinier details like jewellery and prints on his women and has dabbled in acrylic on paper and also oil on canvas. Sharan says, "It is important to see the earlier works of any artist who is successful today. So in that regard, Vaikuntam's vintage works are of great relevance to us."

And like most artists who have dabbled with their other obsession: cinema, Vaikuntam is no stranger to the big screen either. The 69-year-old artist has collaborated with award winning Bengali director Goutam Ghose's first Telegu venture, Maa Bhoomi based on the Telengana rebellion and B Narsing Rao's Daasi, both winners at the National Awards. He was the art director for both films.u00a0u00a0

Where Apparao Galleries, St Mark's Road
On from August 5, Tuesday to Sunday, 12.30 pm to 7 pm
Call 9686112075