Biography

Born in 1942, Boorugupalli (Andhra Pradesh), Vaikuntam studied at the College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad from where he graduated in 1960. In 1971, he won the Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship to study Painting and Printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda under Prof. K.G. Subramanyan. He won the Bharat Bhavan Biennale Award, Bhopal in 1988 and the National Award awarded by the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1993. He has also received the National Award for Art Direction of film ‘Daasi’ in 1988-89. He has held several solo shows and participated in numerous group exhibitions, prominent being VII International Triennale, Lalit Kala Akademi, 1991; ‘Art Encounter’, Kassel, Germany, 1992; ‘India-Encounter II’, Lee Arthur Studio, New York, 1994-95. A retrospective show of his works was organised by Art Alive Gallery in New Delhi in 2005. The gallery has also published a book on his life and art written by Sushma Bahl. He lives and works in Hyderabad.