Lady, 1976

Laxma Goud is an Indian painter, printmaker and draughtsman. Laxma works in various mediums including; gouache, pastel, sculpture, etching and glass painting. He is best known for drawings that are erotic in nature and contain originality in his quality of etchings. He receives his inspiration from his childhood in rural India and his work displays fauna typically found there which are lush and wild. The men and women are depicted in traditional tribal ornaments, though he normally portrayed scenes of common folk in a sort of fantasy world. Laxma Goud grew up in a village where he first hand observed rural tradition and craft. As he grew he became interested in and studied drawings and paintings at the Government College of Fine Arts Architecture and went on to study mural painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Baroda. It was here his love of printmaking evolved and he became a driving force at the university to build a strong voice for the fine art print. When Laxma Goud returned to his childhood village he found a stark contrast to rigid sexual customs of the Indian class compared to what he had encountered in the city. He began to create small paintings of village life with the use of monochrome grays, using pen and ink to etch interesting combination of village sentiments, the bizarre and erotic. His signature became goats with full udders and erects penises which are symbols of rural India. By the 1970's Laxma started to explore etchings with more intense sexual themes, but by the 1980's returned to more traditional roots turning to terracotta and reverse glass paintings with a more subdued style. Laxma has participated in many national and international exhibitions including; Festival of India, USA, Contemporary Indian Art Festival of China, Geneva and Switzerland and also at the Grey Art Gallery in New York. (Artist website)