Vasudevan Akkitham

Vasudevan Akkitham was born at Kumaranallur, Kerala in 1958. He completed his Diploma and Post Diploma from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University in Baroda, a city that has recently become the hub of modern Indian art. In 1988, he earned his MA from the Royal College of Art, London. Akkitham's style of painting can best be described as figurative, an art form inspired by the visible world that uses recognizable objects as its base and then distorts or changes them to convey its message. He often incorporates distinctive symbols, like the elephant as a cliché, in an attempt to link the remembered past with the unknown future. Akkitham has illustrated a children's book penned by Safdar Hashmi, and has held a number of solo exhibitions, including two at Gallery 7 in 1989 and 1992 and another at Sakhi Gallery in Bombay. He has also been a participant in a number of group exhibitions, notable among them being one in aid of earthquake victims in 1993 in Faridabad and the “Gadya Parr” show, Gallery Chemould, Bombay in 1989. His work is a part of several collections such as the Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi, Madhavan Nair Museum, Cochin and the Chester Herwitz Family Trust Collection in the United States. Akkitham lives and teaches in Baroda.