Born in 1956, is an artist, curator and writer. He has gained worldwide recognition and appreciation for his works through extensive participation in numerable exhibitions, shows, camps and other activities. Among his thirty-seven solo and thirty-four collective exhibitions, the recent ones include: “Symbols & Merveillies les Coulers de Inde” (Nice, 2009); “Enigmatic Scripture” (Munich, 2010); “Butterfly” curated by Prayag Shukla (Mumbai 2010); “Remnantes of Void” by Manish Pushkale (Australia 2010); “Rang-Leela” (Indore, 2011); at Red Earth Art Gallery (Baroda, 2011); at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Nantes (France, 2011); and Chennai Art Summit (Chennai, 2011). Mr. Akhilesh has also participated in one hundred and thirty-three national and international shows, the first of which was the ‘Inter- State- Art Exchange (Lucknow,1976), and the most recent one was “Contemporaries” (New Delhi 2011); and has been actively involved in a number of art camps, such as the Arts India Artist Camp (New York, 2005 & 2006), Kenya Artist’ Camp (South Africa, 2007), Art Summit Camp (Kolkata, 2008), Bhoruka Foundation Camp (Dubai, 2009); Turkey Artists’ Camp (Istanbul, 2010); and the Raza Foundation Camp (New Delhi, 2011). His works have been displayed in a number of shows curated by renowned curators such as Manjit Bawa, Prayag Shukla, Rm. Palanippan, Renu Modi, Gayatri Sinha, Kalpana Shah, and Manish Pushkale, amongst others. In addition to the above, he has also curated a number of shows, including one for the collection of Bharat Bhavan (Bhopal), and others for Tao Art Gallery (Mumbai), Art Indus Gallery (New Delhi), Aakar Prakar Gallery (Kolkata), Art Today Gallery (New Delhi) and Icon Gallery (USA). He is the founder member of “The Black Group”; has set up a ‘Museum of Police Bands’ at PHQ (Bhopal) and one on ‘Art of Malwa’ at Lal Bagh Palace (Indore); has delivered a lecture at Towson University (USA); has translated Mark Chagal’s autobiography in Hindi; is in the process of writing artist MF Husain’s biography; and has also edited the special issue of SH Raza’s Kala Varta. He has travelled extensively in India and abroad, and his artworks are part of several collections, both privately owned, as well as those belonging to reputed institutions, such as Jawaharlal University (New Delhi), National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi), the Queen of Iran (Iran), Asians’ Art center (USA), Embassy of Switzerland, Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Vidhan Sabha Bhawan (Bhopal), Peabody Museum (Boston), Mr.& Mrs. Chester Herwitz Collection (USA), and so on. Mr. Akhilesh is the recipient of several awards and felicitations in the field of art, including the Kalidas Academy Certificate Award (1976), Bharat Bhawan Biennial (1990), Government of India Senior Artist Fellowship (1994-1995) and Kala Kaustubh Samman (2006). He lives and works in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.