Shankar Nandagopal

Shankar Nandagopal was born in Bengaluru in 1946. His father was K.C.S. Paniker, former principal of the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai, founder of the Cholamandal Artists' Village and the Madras Art Movement, a group that Nandagopal was also a part of. Nandagopal was best known for his metal sculptures, which earned him two National Awards at the Lalit Kala Akademi, first in 1970 and then again in 1978. He was also the gold medal winner at the IVth International Triennale in New Delhi in 1978. Nandagopal turned to painting later in his life and continued his father's legacy, advocating for and living in the Artists' Village.

'Shankar Nandagopal's sculpture can be termed as frontal metal sculpture influenced by the works of Henry Moore and other Western artists with... traditional expression of Indian folk style... The forms are derivations of folk motifs, scraps of metal welded together to create linear rhythms. He uses copper, brass and enamels to add colour to the works. Cows, snakes, lattices, ayudhas and abstract doodles are some of the key motifs in these free-standing decorative drawings.'

(P. Sheth, Dictionary of Indian Art & Artists, Maplin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2006, p. 245)