LAXMA GOUD

Our social upbringing leaves lasting impression on our psyche. There are artists who are also inspired by their surroundings. Laxma Goud is one artist whose works are deeply rooted in his homeland and rural traditions.

Hailing from Telengana in Andhra Pradesh, Laxma got his art education in Hyderabad. He is a versatile artist who has not confined himself to any one medium of art. He has dabbled into all mediums with equal ease and has left his own mark. His works carry his stamp and it is not difficult to recognize it. His sketching are distorted, disfigured, stretched and are blown out of proportion. He has also used other mediums like glass paintings.

Having lived in his native place, Laxma’s works appear to be rustic, raw and potent.
He started his career painting in black and white and later on took colors. His figures are not individuals living on their own. His men and women loose their freedom as they enter into relation. Some critics have found his art provocative due to his stress on human genitalia and its mutilation, piercing, and decoration. His idea of sexual union seems to be derived from local traditions, which is sensuous, earthy and erotic. His couples have no inhibition in expressing their feeling in open. There appear to some cruelty and fantasy in his portrayals of figures.

He is an artist whose subjects are Indian people and its traditions. His portraits carry dynamism of Indian ethos. At many places his human figures amalgamate with beast and plants to create a new spirit. Here humans seize to be simple humans and acquire some devotional and supernatural powers. Some sketches also depict rural gods and goddesses. In most of his works, humans have are half-naked or naked. The images showcase figures who have only bones and faces carry wrinkles, lines, open mouths with one eyes shut. It appears that Laxma is trying to present the plight of peasant class on the canvas. His lines are eloquent in its expression. A viewer can look upon his creations with intimacy. Other works of his also include colorful landscapes, which depict countryside.

Laxma’s strength lies with his style which is a bridge between traditional folk art and modern imagery. Riding on the bridge he explores his subjects without any boundary in free and frank manner, so that his creations become passionate, intimate and vivacious.