Venkat Raman Singh Shyam was born in 1970 into the Pradhan tribal community of Gonds in Madhya Pradesh. He started painting at the age of ten, however due to severe financial constraints had to work as a manual labourer for some years. Due to his perseverance and inspiration by Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam and J.Swaminathan, Venkat dedicated his life to Gond painting.

Gonds are known for their rich cultural heritage, which finds expression in their oral narratives, music, dance and paintings. The paintings are either done in natural colours, generally different hues of black and ochre or patterns and figures which are done in high relief of a thick sticky mud or clay mainly depict characters and symbols from myths and legends. The addition of the dot and the line are as recent as 1980.

VRS Shyam is one of the current leading exponents of Gond art. His work deals with traditional stories, with myths and legends as well as interpretations of current events and everyday life. Venkat uses rich vibrant colours and strong strokes to portray his work. Venkat has one the 2015 Ojas Art Award, 2002 State Award of Madhya Pradesh, 2010 Karigar Sanskriti Award, Kolkata, West Bengal and the 2007 The Tallest Story Competition Trophy from Inverness film Festival, Scotland. He has participated in many exhibitions in India and abroad such as at the Brookline Art Centre, MA, the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalya, Bhopal and the Lalit kala Akademy, New Delhi.

His works are part of the collection at the Los Angeles Country Museum, Los Angeles, National Gallery, Ottawa, Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum , Mumbai and are also held in many private collections. Venkat has coauthored a book with S Anand “Finding my Way” in 2016.