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My All Time Favorite Painter, Thota Vaikuntam

THOTA VAIKUNTAM PAINTINGS BRING A CALMNESS OF SPIRIT AND TRANQUILITY TO ALL THOSE WHO SEE THEM. HE AVOIDS AN OBVIOUSLY DISTURBING FORM BUT INSTEAD HAS REPEATED THE PICTORIAL MOTIFS EXTENSIVELY. AT THE EMOTIONAL LEVEL HIS AIM APPEARS TO BE ,TO CREATE, A HARMONY BETWEEN AN IMAGINATIVE CONCEPT AND HIS TECHNICAL EXPERTISE. HIS PAINTINGS DEAL WITH THE THEME OF LOVE, WHICH IS ALWAYS INDIRECT AND VEILED. HE DOES THIS SUCCESSFULLY BY USING SYMBOLS LIKE THE PARROT AND MIRROR. THE MIRROR REFLECTS THE NAYIKA’S MOOD AND THE PARROT HER GENTLENESS. VAIKUNTAM’S PARROT APPEARS AS AN ARDENT LISTENER TO THE LOVER’S WOES.

THE LINE OF VAIKUNTAM HAS A MAGICAL QUALITY SUGGESTING BOTH CONTOUR AND VOLUME. HE CONSCIOUSLY TRANSFORMS THE LINE OF FORCE, VOLUME AND TACTILE FEELING INTO ONE OF DECORATION TO SUIT HIS PURPOSE. THE EROTICISM THUS APPEARS VERY SUBTLE AND MERELY SUGGESTIVE.

LIKE THE FOLK PAINTERS, THE PLACEMENT OF THE FORM, WITHOUT ILLUSIONISTIC DEPTH, THE DECORATIVE PATTERN ON THE FABRIC, THE ENDLESS REPETITION OF TYPICAL FORM SHOW VAIKUNTAM’S URBANE APPROACH AND MAKES IT CLEAR THAT HE COULD REMODEL AND RESTRUCTURE ANY TRADITION FOR WORKING OUT HIS STYLE. UNDISTURBED BY ENVIRONMENT WE CONCENTRATE ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TENSIONS GENERATED ON PURELY HUMAN TERMS. THESE SMALL PAINTINGS WITH LARGE FIGURES OCCUPY THE VIEWERS GAZE. THEY SEEM TO BE PRISONERS OF THEIR OWN DECORATED GARMENTS AND JEWELRY THAT SYMBOLIZE SOCIETAL RULES. USING POWERFUL IMAGES OF WOMEN, THOTA VAIKUNTAM EXPLAINS AND ILLUMINES THE RICH MEANING OF FEMININE BEAUTY.

HE HAS EXHIBITED HIS WORK ACROSS THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF THE WORLD AND HAS MANY AWARDS TO HIS SHARE INCLUDING A NATIONAL AWARD, HYDERABAD ARTS SOCIETY AWARD AND A BHARAT BHAVAN BIENNALE AWARD FOR HIS WORK AS AN ARTIST. HE HAS ALSO WORKED AS AN ART DIRECTOR FOR SEVERAL TELUGU MOVIES INCLUDING DAASI THAT EARNED HIM A NATIONAL AWARD AS A BEST ART DIRECTOR. ALTHOUGH, HIS PAINTINGS HAVE EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS IN SIZE AND MEDIUM, THE MOOD OF HIS ARTWORK HAS NEVER CHANGED DESPITE ALL THE MODERNIZATION OF THE SOCIETY INCLUDING HIS OWN VILLAGE.

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