The renowned artist Paresh Maity was born in the historical town of Tamluk, close to Kolkata in 1965. After his education at Hamilton High School, he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from one of the oldest and most prestigious art colleges in India, Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata, followed by Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the College of Art, New Delhi being the top of his class in both. Spanning nearly five decades of his artistic oeuvre, he has created and explored various mediums in art including watercolour, oil and acrylic paintings, mixed media, sculptures and photography. During the last 40 years, he has held 90 solo exhibitions and his work that includes a diverse ensemble of landscapes, abstracts, portraits and figures has been widely exhibited in galleries, museums and art fairs in India and across the globe. Paresh Maity’s art has been collected by numerous private collectors across the world and is also present in public collections such as the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President’s House, India), the British Museum in London, the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art among many others.

In 2010, he completed an approximately 850-foot mural, one of the longest paintings in the world for the International terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. In 2024, five sculptures by the artist, including Sound of Silence, a sculptural installation made using 4,500 brass bells, has been installed at the newly expanded Terminal 1 of IGI Airport, Delhi (2024). Genesis, a sculpture by Paresh Maity was exhibited at Marinaressa Gardens, Riva dei Sette Martiri, Venice, as part of his participation in Personal Structures, 2024, a biennial contemporary art exhibition organized by the European Cultural Centre during the Venice Biennale. His iconic sculptural installation, Urbanscape, is on view at Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata as part of the first edition of the Bengal Biennale. Paresh Maity has also exhibited at the Bihar Biennale, the first ever museum Biennale in India.

Several books have been published on the works of Paresh Maity; the recent ones are Infinite Light: Paresh Maity, PARESH MAITY: World of Watercolours and The World on a Canvas – A Visual Voyage based on the works inspired by his artistic practice. After M.F. Husain, Maity is the second artist to be invited by the Kerala Tourism Department, Kerala Government in 2007 to make his own visual interpretation of Kerala, which has been documented in the book An Enchanting Journey – Paresh Maity’s Kerala; published by Art Alive Gallery.

Paresh Maity has been felicitated by various national and international institutions including the Royal Watercolour Society, London, the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, British Council, and most recently, Times of India. In 2024, he was conferred with an honourary Doctor of Literature (D.Litt.) degree from Sir Padampat Singhania University, Udaipur. He is recipient of one of the highest civilian awards, the Padma Shri, from the Government of India. His upcoming work includes a solo exhibition at TEFAF Maastricht (2025), widely regarded as the world's premier fair.

Born in 1935 in Kolkata, Sakti Burman graduated in fine arts from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata, in 1956. He studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris and was awarded the Prix des Etrangers by this institution in 1956. Sakti Burman's vast sculptural oeuvre is composed of multifarious motifs borrowed from traditional Indian mythologies and fairy tales. 

Burman uses pointillism and marbling techniques to create fresco-like works on paper by mixing oils with acrylics. His distinct oeuvre owes mainly to his marbling technique, which he developed after years of experimentation. Sakti Burman visited Italy in 1958 and was influenced by the frescos of Giotto, Piero de la Francesca, and Simone Martini and incorporated their monumentality and textures into his works.

Sakti Burman paintings often evoke a surrealistic feel in the spectator referencing various times and spaces. His paintings are occupied by humans, animals, and cityscapes, and they represent elements from both Indian and European mythologies.

His mastery over the medium is apparent in his magnificent creations, which combine the stories of France and India. Sakti Burman’s free-standing sculptures display the majestic mythological figures like Krishna, Ganesha, and Shiva. He juxtaposes various elements in his relief murals like children, harlequins, and flying hanuman. Burman creates a confluence of ideas and faith, forming artworks which exhibit the myriad features and characteristics of different worlds.

He has held several solo shows, including Sculpted Sagas at Art Alive Gallery (2023), a retrospective at the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata, and DakshinaChitra, Chennai, in 2012; Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Paris; Piccadilly Gallery, London; Galerie Doucet et Coutureau, Paris; Galleria Nuovo Sagittario, Milan; and Galerie Sagar, Zurich.

Burman has participated in numerous group exhibitions, some of the most recent including Life, Soul, Games at Art Alive Gallery in 2022, The Beholder's Share by Jehangir Art Gallery and Art Musings in Mumbai in 2016; A Private Universe by Art Alive Gallery in New Delhi in 2015; Rituals and Reasons: Invoking the Sensual in Art, at Apparao Galleries in Chennai in 2014; The Wonder of it All, a retrospective exhibition by Pundole Art Gallery and Apparao Galleries in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in 2012, Archetype and Enraputured Gaze at Aicon Gallery in London and New York in 2009; as well as Faces of Indian Art organised by Art Alive at the Visual Art Gallery, New Delhi.

His works, along with those of Picasso, Chagall, and Miro, were exhibited in Japan in 1997. He was invited to participate in Sigmund Freud's Interpretation of Dreams, an exhibition organised by the University Art Museum, Binghamton, New York, at the Historisches Museum, Vienna, in 2000. Several publications and illustrations have been released on his works, including a book on his work and life, Sakti Burman - Dreamers on the Ark, published in 2001, portfolio of Monographs by Lalit Kala Akademi, 2007, Sakti Burman: A Private Universe (2015), and the most recently released titled, Life, Soul, Games published by Art Alive Gallery in 2023. 

He has also received the Silver Medal at the Salon de Montmorency and an award from the town of L'Isle-Adam as well as Knight of the Legion of Honour, Government of France, 2016.

He lives and works in New Delhi and Paris.

Born in 1942 in Boorugupalli, Andhra Pradesh, Thota Vaikuntam is a unique painter who captures the rustic beauty of rural Telangana. He studied at the College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad, where he completed his diploma in 1970. He won the Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship to study Painting and Printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S University, Baroda, in 1972 under the guidance of Prof. K.G. Subramanyan, after which he toyed with the idea of abstraction.

Vaikuntam draws inspiration from the simple lives of the native women and men of Telangana and captures their essence. His paintings exude his fascination with the indomitable yet innocent spirit of women. His mastery is clearly visible in the use of rich primary colours, intricate lines, execution of the figures, and the detailed portrayal of their jewellery and apparel. Vaikuntam's vibrant, women-centric universe results from the attempt to capture the sensuousness of his muses, the village women.

Thota Vaikutam paintings are known for his primary colours and his refusal to use composite colours. According to him, primary colours are found in nature, and he prefers to work with them. Dark faces, almond eyes, voluptuous women with vermillion bindis, rich ornaments, and intricate designs characterize his figures.

He portrays the people of his village with meticulous attention to detail. Sometimes, he remembers his mother, who used to wear big bindis and bright sarees. Thota Vaikuntam is also into music and incorporates men playing the flute and women listening to it as if they are enchanted with a parrot perching over their shoulders.

Thota Vaikuntam held his first solo exhibition at the Kalabhavan in Hyderabad in 1973. His most recent art exhibitions include 'Thota Vaikuntam: Redefining The Cultural Gaze'at Art Alive Gallery (2024) 'The Telangana Icons' at Grosvenor Gallery in collaboration with Art Alive Gallery (2015), 'Yes, I am He' organized by India Fine Art at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and 'Telangana: Inheritance of a Dream Lost' at Art Alive, New Delhi (2007); and 'Mukham' at Sanskriti Art Gallery, Kolkata, (2006).

He also participated in numerous group shows including the India Art Fair, 'Indian Harvest' presented by Crimson – the Art Resource, Bangalore, at SG Private Bank, Singapore, 'The Root of Everything' at Gallery Mementos, Bangalore (2009); 'Post Independence Masters' at Aicon Gallery, New York (2008); '6 Artists Show' at 1x1 Gallery, Dubai (2006); 'Tradition and Change' at Arts India, New York (2002); and 'Ignition' at Crimson Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2000.

His distinctive style has earned him multiple awards, including the Bharat Bhavan Biennale Award in 1999; the National Award for Painting from the Government of India in 1993; the Hyderabad Art Society Award, Andhra Pradesh Lalit Kala Academy, 1982 & 1985; Chitra Kala Parishad Award, Bangalore, India in 1979 and Academy of Fine Arts Award, Kolkata in (1979).

Multiple art books featured his decades-long oeuvre; among them are Thota Vaikuntam- Art Alive Master Series Books, Rustic Ragas: Inner Melodies of Thota Vaikuntam, A Retrospective Book: Thota Vaikuntam, and Thota Vaikuntam: The Man and His Women.

He lives and works in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.