T. K. Padmini was an Indian painter from the south India state of Kerala. A recipient of multiple awards from the Chennai centre of the Lalit Kala Akademi, she was one of the prominent Indian woman painters. Her paintings have been displayed at The National Art Gallery, Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad and the Durbar Hall Ground Art Gallery of Kerala Lalithakala Akademi. She died on 11 May 1969 at the age of 29.
Kanayi Kunhiraman is an Indian sculptor, best known for his outsize sculptures such as Yakshi of Malampuzha Dam Gardens, Sagarakanyaka at Shankumugham Beach and Mukkola Perumal trinity in Kochi. Taught by K. C. S. Paniker, he is a former chairman of the Lalit Kala Academy, India's national academy of fine arts. The Government of Kerala awarded him the inaugural Raja Ravi Varma Award in 2005. He is also a recipient of the Thikkurissy Award and the inaugural MS Nanjunda Rao National Award of the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. In 2022, he was honoured with Kerala Sree Award, third highest civilian award given by the Government of Kerala.
C. N. Karunakaran was an Indian painter, illustrator and art director from Kerala. He was the Chairman of the Kerala Lalitakala Academy and a recipient of several honours including the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Award which he won thrice. The Akademi honoured him again with the fellowship in 2005.
Madathil Vasudevan, popularly identified as M. V. Devan, was an Indian painter, sculptor, writer, art critic and orator. Besides his artistic works, he was also known for his architectural designs for a number of cultural institutions as well as for his contributions in founding Kerala Kalapeetom, Kochi-based cultural organization, Malayala Kalagramam, an art village in New Mahe and Kalagramam, another art village in Kollam. A former chairman of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, he was a recipient of several honours including the Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, the Vayalar Award and the Mathrubhumi Literary Award.
Karuvattu Mana Vasudevan Namboothiri, better known as Artist Namboothiri or simply Namboothiri, was an Indian painter and sculptor, known for his line art and copper relief works. He illustrated for many Malayalam writers such as Thakazhy Shivasankara Pillai, Kesavadev, M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Uroob, S. K. Pottekkatt, Edasseri Govindan Nair, and V.K.N., and was one of the most prolific literary illustrators of India. He was also a chairman of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi. The Akademi awarded him the Raja Ravi Varma Award in 2003. He was also a recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Art Director.
Kerala Lalithakala Academy for Fine Arts is an autonomous body in Kerala state, India.
Sekar Ayyanthole is a painter, art teacher and former president of Kerala Chithrakala Parishath.
Akkitham Narayanan is a Paris-based Indian painter from Kerala. A student of such artists as K. C. S. Paniker, D. P. Roy Choudhury and Jean Bertholle, Narayanan's paintings are on display at various museums and galleries in many countries such as India, France, Japan, Poland and Germany. He is a three time recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Lalit Kala Akademi Award, Raja Ravi Varma Award of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and the Cagnes-sur-Mer International Festival of Painting Award.
Maliyekkal Kochukunju Arjunan was an Indian film and theatre composer, known for his works in Malayalam cinema and the theatre of Kerala. He was fondly referred to as Arjunan Master.
Madhusudhanan is an Indian film maker and artist, also known as K. M. Madhusudhanan. His debut feature film, Bioscope has received many awards. He is working with different media in art, including sculpture, printmaking installation art and film.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is an international exhibition of contemporary art held in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. It is the largest art exhibition in the country and the biggest contemporary art festival in Asia. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale is an initiative of the Kochi Biennale Foundation with support from the Government of Kerala. The concept of Kochi-Muziris Biennale was ideated and executed by Dr. Venu Vasudevan IAS, who was the Government of Kerala's cultural secretary. The exhibition is set in spaces across Kochi, with shows being held in existing galleries, halls, and site-specific installations in public spaces, heritage buildings and vacant structures.
Balan Nambiar is an Indian painter, sculptor, enamellist, photographer and an academic researcher.
Suresh K. Nair is an artist based in Banaras. Nair obtained his national diploma in mural painting from the Institute of Mural Painting Guruvayur, Kerala under the guidance of Mammiyur Krishnan Kuty Nair. He was inspired by the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee and Ramkinker Baij and continued his studies at the Department of Painting, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan. Nair has acquired a presence in the Indian and international art scene over the last decade with several shows organized by regional and international galleries and museums, and created many murals in India and abroad. His early works are based on Kerala murals, both in terms of technique and ideas. One of his modern paintings, ‘Cosmic Butterfly" is owned by Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria since 2010. His works were exhibited in the US, Spain, and Canada, and his awards include the Elizabath Green Shield Foundation Scholarship (1999) of Canada; Fulbright Fellowship ( 2006–07) for an Educational Exchange Program at Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia under Professor Nicholas Kripal; and the State Award of Kerala Lalithkala Akademi, Ministry of Culture, Government of Kerala.
Sheela Gowda is a contemporary artist living and working in Bangalore. Gowda studied painting at Ken School of Art, Bangalore, India (1979) pursued a postgraduate diploma at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India (1982), and a MA in painting from the Royal College of Art in London in 1986. Trained as a painter Gowda expanded her practice into sculpture and installation employing a diversity of material like human hair, cow-dung, incense and kumkuma powder. She is known for her 'process-orientated' work, often inspired by the everyday labor experiences of marginalized people in India. Her work is associated with postminimalism drawing from ritualistic associations. Her early oils with pensive girls in nature were influenced by her mentor K. G. Subramanyan, and later ones by Nalini Malani towards a somewhat expressionistic direction depicting a middle class chaos and tensions underplayed by coarse eroticism. She is the recipient of the 2019 Maria Lassnig Prize.
Sadhu Aliyur was an Indian (watercolor) painter and art teacher from Kerala, India. He has done a workshop on the art of watercolor painting at the State Gallery of Fine Arts. He co-founded "Colouring India foundation" a non profit organisation.
S. Nandagopal was an Indian sculptor and painter, known for his sculptures in metal. He was one of the last members of the Madras Art Movement which pioneered modernism in art in south India and the son of K. C. S. Paniker, the founder of the movement as well as the Cholamandal Artists' Village. A two-time recipient of the Lalit Kala Akademi Award, Nandagopal was awarded the Jindal Stainless Steel Award for Sculpture in 2002.
T.R. Udayakumar is an Indian contemporary artist living in Kottayam, Kerala.
B.D.Dethan is an Indian painter from the state of Kerala. A recipient of several awards and Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Fellowship 2007, he was a member of the executive committee of Kerala Lalithakala Akademi thrice. His paintings are featured in several private and public collections in India and abroad including, the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Parliament House, New Delhi; Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and Raj Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram. The Government of Kerala awarded him Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram for his achievements in the field of visual arts in 2019.
K R Sunil is a visual artist hailing from Kodungallur, Kerala. He is an alumnus of the College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, where he developed his passion for photography. Sunil's work primarily focuses on human life; often ethnographic portrayals set against the backdrop of social and environmental issues. The recurring themes in his art documentation include the sea, maritime history, and climate change. The powerful, investigative representation of common people's struggles in a complex society through his work intents to inspire social change and bring attention to important issues. Sunil has received multiple awards for his series on various socio-relevant topics. For instance, his series titled 'Chronicle of a Disappearance,' which explored the dwindling ponds of Kerala, won him the India Habitat Photosphere Award in 2016. His 'Vanishing Life Worlds' series, which depicted the lives of the old port city of Ponnani, was exhibited at the Kochi Muziris Biennale in 2016. Additionally, his 'Manchukkar - The Seafarers of Malabar' series, which documented the last surviving group of dhow workers along the Malabar coast, was exhibited at the Uru Art Harbour in Kochi in 2018 and at the Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum, USA in 2021, while also getting printed by a Swiss publication the same year. Sunil's series 'Home' explores the impact of climate change on coastal homes and livelihoods. It was part of exhibitions by the Kochi Muziris Biennale Foundation at Kochi and Alappey in 2021. Furthermore, his photography series titled 'Chavittu Nadakam: Story Tellers of the Seashore' sheds light on the lives of Dalit Christian performers of the age-old art form Chavittu Nadakam and how climate change affects them. He has participated in the curatorial exhibition of Mattancherry by artist and curator Riyas Komu. Mattancherry photography series gazes the subaltern livelihood with a concrete ethnographic document to the contemporary cultural historiography Kerala. Mattancherry Island is a major hub of many waves of sea root connections from various parts of the world.
N.K.P. Muthukoya is an Indian painter of modern art, known for his surrealism paintings.
