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 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.

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

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Poolamma XVI

Laxman Aelay

Acrylic on Canvas

.SOLD

Poolamma XIV

Laxman Aelay

Acrylic on Canvas

.SOLD

Song of the Village - IV

Laxman Aelay

Pen and Ink on Canvas

.SOLD

Poolamma - XIII

Laxman Aelay

Acrylic on Linen Canvas

.SOLD

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