Akbar Padamsee was born on April 12, 1928, in Mumbai. In 1951he received his diploma from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai. He is a multi faceted personality. He is a painter, film maker, sculptor, photographer, engraver and lithographer. He was the member of many artistic committees and took part in the development of the collections of the Bharat Bhavan museum of Bhopal, and created the VIEW or Vision Exchange Workshop.
His work is introspective in nature. His "Metascapes" or his "Mirror Images" are "abstract images" formed from the search for a formal logic. His themes include landscapes, nudes and heads. He has done portraits in pencil and charcoal too. The depth which emerges from his oil-based works creates a pictorial technique juxtaposing emerging split forms. He has done black and white photographs which use light to create dimension. He always explored new plastic genres. His show the meticulous manner in which he has worked upon his paintings. His paintings pulsate with throbbing energy. His work varies from figure to non-figures. For Padamsee it is the relationship with form, volume, space, time, and colour.
Padamsee`s pioneering spirit has made him experiment with a wide range of mediums: the gamut of the traditional ones to his recent experiments with photography and digital printmaking. The most familiar works are the metascapes and mirror images, the figures and heads which he oscillates between. Metascapes are a development from landscapes, while the mirror images show his concern with the duality of existence. His experiments with the Chinese method of `ku fu` have lent his figures an agile grace. The forms carry an expression of inexpressible sadness.
His works include `Sensitive Surfaces` at Galerie Helene Lamarque, Paris, in 2008; `Metascape to Humanscape` at Aicon Gallery, New York and Palo Alto, in 2007; and `Photographs (2004-06)` at the Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2006. From 1994 onwards, Padamsee has held several solo shows at Pundole Art Gallery ,Mumbai, including `Tertiaries`, `Compugraphics`, `Imaging Gandhi`, `Female Nudes`, and `Mirror Images`. Padamsee`s first solo exhibition was held in Paris in 1952 at Galerie Saint Placide.
Padamsee was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1969. He also received the Padma Shri in 2009.