Laxma Goud Kalal, born in 1940 in Andhra Pradesh, graduated with a diploma in Drawing and Painting from the Government School of Art and Architecture, Hyderabad and studied mural painting and printmaking at the MS University, Baroda. A brief stint as a textile designer, a series of commissioned murals and a period of teaching as the head of the art department at the University in Hyderabad are important landmarks in Laxma’s checkered career in the arts. An inspiration for a whole generation of artists from the region and elsewhere, whom he has supported in his various advisory capacities at important Indian art institutions, Laxma Goud, a master draftsman, is known for his versatility over a range of mediums. From etching, gouache and pastels, to glass paintings, prints, ceramics, terracotta, and bronze sculptures, he continues to move from working in one medium to another with equal élan. What sets him apart is his narrative ability, similar to that of a sutra dhara, or the traditional storyteller. Sitting in his studio with his pencil and brush or clay, a story is created about a man, a woman, a goat or other animals and birds, morphed into semi-humans or vice versa, along with other protagonists, in a world of uninhibited fantasy and eroticism. A raw earthiness, humour with satire and vitality, in a flawless balance, are the hallmarks of his genre – across his early monochromatic experiments, subsequent surrealist period and the current sensuous phase. Laxma has several honours and exhibitions to his credit at London, Warsaw, Munich, Tokyo Print Biennale, Sao Paulo Biennale, and Print Amsterdam, besides Triennial- India. He lives and works in Hyderabad.