Born in Mysore (Karnataka) in 1941, S.G. Vasudev received recognition as a painter early in his career. While he was a student of the Government College of Art, Madras, he won the National Award from the All India Lalit Kala Akademi in 1967. Awards from State Academies of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, besides the prestigious Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, Venkatappa Award, and Paniker Puraskaram. Vasudev is a founder-member of the Cholamandal Artists’ Village on the outskirts of Madras (now Chennai), where he lived and worked till 1988. He now lives and works in Bangalore.
Vasudev works in various mediums (drawings, paintings, reliefs in copper, and tapestries in silk). He became well-known for his “Vriksha” (Tree of Life) series, which evolved over nearly a decade, turning into the Tree of Life and Death in the latter half of the 1980s. He also explored the theme of “Maithuna” (Act of Love) through a series of drawings, paintings, and copper reliefs. Eventually his tree grew into faces titled “Humanscapes” and “Earthscapes.” The tree is still sometimes visible in his series titled “Theatre of Life” and "Rhapsody." Vasudev has participated in several important group exhibitions in India and abroad. In addition, he has held solo exhibitions in different parts of India and the world (including the USA, Canada, England, and Germany). Exhibitions of his drawings based on the late A.K. Ramanujan’s poetry and translations, titled “Tribute to Ramanujan,” have been held in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, London, and Chicago. Vasudev is founder and managing trustee of Arnawaz Vasudev Charities, a non-profit organization providing financial assistance to young artists and art-related initiatives since 1989. He has helped in establishing the Visual Art Department at the Bangalore University, the National Gallery of Modern Art Bangalore, Ananya Drishya, and Art Park, both artists’ initiatives.