Laxman Aelay
Every time I engaged with Telangana and Dalit literature, it would take me back to my roots in Nalagonda. For me, art is identity and not just related to culture. I would rather talk about my people from the village Kadirenigudem I know best - their tribulations, their compulsions and celebrations.
Laxman Aelay
Contemporary Artist
About Artist
Laxman Aelay is an artist who paints not just from observation but from lived memory. His work is steeped in the textures of Telangana’s rural life, especially that of the Dalit communities and driven by a fierce belief: art is not simply culture, it is identity. His figures, especially the women, rise from the canvas with dignity and defiance. No longer symbols of poverty or silence, they become...Read More
His figures, especially the women, rise from the canvas with dignity and defiance. No longer symbols of poverty or silence, they become matriarchs of change - stoic, beautiful, unbending. Aelay’s recurring muse is Poolamma, the ‘mother of flowers’, a central figure in Dalit festivals, who becomes in his hands both a symbol of divinity and a bearer of lived resilience.
He draws from traditional patterns, weaving motifs and textile imprints into his compositions, not as aesthetic embellishments but as mnemonic devices—threads connecting the viewer to the weavers, labourers, and women who hold Telangana’s cultural identity together. The garments, though replications of real fabrics, pulse with memory and meaning, offering an insider’s gaze into the aesthetics of a marginalised yet deeply vibrant community.
Aelay’s art is deeply radical in its quietude, the women simply exist with grace and gravitas, reclaiming space with every glance and every gesture.
Poolamma XV
Laxman Aelay
Acrylic on Canvas
36 (w) x 48 (h) in
$ 11,250
Left Hemisphere
Laxman Aelay
Mixed Media on Canvas
40 (w) x 60 (h) in
$ 15,625
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Highlights And Achievements
Artist Education
BFA, JNTU College of Fine Arts, Hyderabad
MFA, JNAFAU, Hyderabad
Ph.D. in Film Studies and Visual Culture, EFLU, Hyderabad
Artist Awards & Recognition
1995 Annual Exhibition, Hyderabad Art Society, Hyderabad
1993 Gold Medal for Painting Competition conducted by Konaseema Chitrakala Parishad, Amalapuram, Andhra Pradesh
1987 Bronze Medal in the Painting Competition conducted by Amateur Artist Association, Nalgonda, Andhra Pradesh.
Group Shows
2011 'Melange', The Harrington Street Arts Centre, Kolkata
2010 'Black is Beautiful', India Fine Art, Mumbai
2009 'Sacred and Secular', India Fine Art, Mumbai
2009 'Roopa Bheda', Alankritha Art Gallery, Hyderabad
2009 'Entity', MEC Art Gallery, New Delhi
2008 'Stellar Configuration', presented by Vinnyasa Premier Art Gallery, Chennai
2008 'From Beyond The Vindhyas', Ganges Art, Kolkata
2008 ‘Symphony of Colors’, organized by Art Panache and ABN AMRO, Gurgaon
2008 ‘Colors of Hyderabad’, Canvas Art Gallery, Kolkata
2008 ‘Awakening the Spirit’, Collection of 37 Indian Artists, The Art, New Delhi
2007 ‘A P Art of the Habitat’, Leela Lounge, New York
2007 ‘Art for Freedom’, organized by Point of View Art Gallery at The Sheraton, Washington D. C
2007 ‘Art for Prabhat’, Charity Show, New Delhi
2007 ‘Beyond Boundaries’, Mahua Art Gallery, Bangalore
2001 Tradition to Modernity’, Fulda, Germany
Contemporary Deccan, Hyderabad
National Art Exhibition, Ahmedabad & Cochin
International Group Shows (CROSS CURRENTS), Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai
Art for Concern (Christie’s), Mumbai
Mapping the South, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai
Deccan Command, New Delhi
Black & White, Mumbai
Still Waters Run Deep, Mumbai
Resonance, New Delhi
Art Bangalore
World Art Dubai
Solo Shows
2008 ‘The River Underneath’, India Fine Art, Mumbai
2006 ‘Moods and Colors’, Fida Art Gallery, Singapore
2005 ‘Song of the Village’, Apparao Galleries, Chennai
2004 ‘Charismatic Contours’, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi
1999 ‘Images of Kadirenigudem’, Indian Council of Cultural Relations(ICCR) Art Gallery, Hyderabad
2023: Darshan: A Cultural Gaze, New Delh
Sold Artworks
Poolamma XVI
Laxman Aelay
Acrylic on Canvas
.SOLD
Poolamma XIV
Laxman Aelay
Acrylic on Canvas
.SOLD
Poolamma - II
Laxman Aelay
Acrylic on Canvas
.SOLD
Poolamma - I
Laxman Aelay
Acrylic on Canvas
.SOLD
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