Jogen Chowdhury

Statement

During all these years, man and life, their complex co-existence, are the central concerns of my work. I am also sometimes fascinated by Natures' organic qualities, its design, and rhythmic construction. People continue to be the dominating influence in my work. For the last few years, I have been deeply disturbed with the man's brutality upon man, in Iraq, in the U.S.A., in Russia, in the U.K. or in India. Religious and racial riots in Gujarat, bombing and destruction by one country on another country, terrorist attacks on helpless children in Russia, or on the innocent public in other parts of the world, torture of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Gharib Jail and political killings in the village of Bengal, or other parts of India, torture, and rape of women and young girls, have all affected me deeply. This suppressed humanity makes me alert, sad and disturbed. The present turmoil has affected me as a human being and is directly reflected in my art.

Biography

Born in 1939 in Faridpur, Jogen Chowdhury completed his graduation in Fine Art from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata (1960), where he received a gold medal in watercolour painting. He later studied in France from 1965 to 1967 on a Government Scholarship at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Jogen skilfully blends traditional imagery with the contemporary style of painting. His early works display his inclination towards figuration, which carries through in recent works as well.

Jogen was fascinated by history and has experienced the traumatic events and effects of the partition, dislocation, and isolation, which is reflected through his figures in solitude. His works are also social and political comments as they protest or channel the agony of the human condition. Jogen Chowdhury juxtaposes various emotions and the known and the unknown elements as an expression of the collective consciousness.

In his early years, Jogen Chowdhury was more into the expressionist style of figuration. His works featured grotesque images of men with large bellies and women with loose bodies. He transfers feelings of agony through gestural mark-making. He uses the cross-hatching technique to amplify the features of figures. The terrors of famine, corruption, partition and an element of darkness are visible in the works of Jogen Chowdhury. His portrayal of darkness and impending sadness evokes an aura of mystery. His pictorial quality is achieved mainly through distortion of the anatomy.

Jogen has held various solo exhibitions include ‘Jogen Chowdhury: Formative to Recent’, Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata, in 2014; ‘Lignes de Meditation’, Gallery Veda, Chennai, in 2012-13; ‘A Calligraphy of Touch and Gaze’ by Kalakriti Art Gallery at ICIA, Mumbai, in 2008; ‘Abahoman: Flowing Life’ Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, in 2007, ‘Coloured Drawings with Ink and Pastel’, Gajah Gallery, Singapore (2001); Coloured Drawings with Pastel Paper, Foundation for Indian Artists, Amsterdam (1998). Chowdhury has also had solo shows at Gajah Gallery, Singapore; Gallerie Foundation for Indian Artists, Amsterdam; and the Fine Art Resource, Berlin.

He has been part of group exhibitions such as ‘Artistes lndiens en France’, Festival of India, France (1985); Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil (1978); Takaoka Municipal Museum of Art, and the Meguro Museum of Art, Japan (1988), Realms of Fantasy, Hong Kong, 2004; After Dark, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai Indian Contemporary Art, Hart Gallery, Beijing (2004); Indian Artists for France-2004, The Embassy of France in India, New Delhi (2004); and Inverting/ Inventing Traditions, Grosvenor Vadehra, London, 2007. He is also a participant in the International Prints Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, where he received an honourable mention (1995).

Jogen Chowdhury exhibited his works in various international exhibitions, including the ‘Triennales’ at Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., in 1982 and the II Havana Biennale, Cuba, in 1986. He was awarded at the II Havana Biennale in 1986 and at the International Prints Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, in 1995. He was honoured with Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh Government in 2001. Besides these honours, he has received numerous National Awards.

He lives and works in Santiniketan.

Artworks By Jogen Chowdhury