Manikam's youthful exuberance belies his advancement in years. He taught fine art at Jawhar Bala Bhavan between 1971-2002 and at Bharathiyar Palkalai Koodam, Pondicherry College of Arts as a guest lecturer from 2000-2006. In 1997 he was the honoured recipient of the Lalit Kala Academy National Award for his work ‘Grace’.

His distinctive style follows in the pioneering footsteps of Paniker, Chowdhury, Santhanraj and Doss, former principals of the Madras College of Arts and Crafts. For many years he worked alongside the late K. M. Adimoolam and M. Senathipathi while studying at the Lalit Academy in Madras.

K.C.S Paniker was a visionary, ahead of his time and instrumental in initiating the interactive dialogue concerning the status of modern art in India, marking the beginning of a new chapter and leading to the emergence of the Madras movement. The stimulating influences proclaimed by Paniker as “Indian in spirit and worldwide contemporary” unlocked the doors to an entire school of abstraction drawing upon the inspiration of the ancient painters of Ajanta, sculptors of Pattadakal and the Southern Dravidian and Chola dynasties. Though independent and self-sustaining this movement was intrinsically linked with the great Western masters such as Picasso and Lam and their affinity with tribal and folk art.

Manikam’s amorphous figures are the stuff of folklore, totem-like and primordial. One can sense the nuances of the European Modern Movement and African and Oceanic sculpture in Manikam’s work, relating to the energetic techniques of Hoffman and Gorky and the freedom of expression of the Abstract Expressionists. While Manikam’s use of the ‘automatic’ technique of free brushstrokes is typical of Surrealism, he relates more to the Expressionists, however, as with artists such as Matta, he retains an element of control and does not typically fit into their mould.

Through the gradual elimination of detail and a widespread use of vivid colour, Manikam creates both an instant and lively effect, expressive and contemporary. His imagery is richly suggestive and inherently Indian often referring to voluminous Hindu epics such as the Mahabharatha as an expansive source of inspiration.

As Manikams themes undulate throughout the telling of an epic tale, one can appreciate how he captures a moment of drama and crescendo or a still point between rise and fall within expressive figurative and abstract compositions, interspersed with a range of electric landscapes which hiss and crackle; brush devouring canvas with intensity and immediacy, leaving one with an indelible impression.