J.Chowdhury

BORN - 15 February 1939 in Faridpur (present Bangladesh)

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS  

1965-67 Ecole Nationale, Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris

1960 Studio of Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata

1955-60 Government College of Art and Crafts, Kolkata 

1960: Completes graduation from the Government College of Arts and Craft, Kolkata

HONORS AND AWARDS

1958: Best Award: Best Group of Watercolour Paintings, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata

1958: Best Award: Watercolour Painting, Calcutta University Institute Exhibition, Kolkata

1959: Gold Medal: Watercolour Painting, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata

1959: Award: Watercolour Painting, Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata

1960: Award: Oil painting, Art Exhibition in Sreerampur, West Bengal

1965-67: Awarded French government scholarship, studies at L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts and Atelier 17, Paris

1966: Awarded Prix le France de la Jeune Peinture, Paris

1972: Award: Painting AIFACS, New Delhi

1979; Award: Graphic Arts, All India Graphic and Drawing Exhibition (Atul), Ahmedabad

1981: Award: Graphic Arts, All India Graphic and Drawing Exhibition (Atul), Ahmedabad

1986: Received award in the 2nd Biennale of Havana, Cuba

1995: Award (Honorable Mention), International Print Biennale, Bhopal

1997: Shiromani Award for Art, by Asian Paints, Kolkata

2000: Award from Ganakristi, Kolkata

2001: Awarded Kalidas Samman by the Government of Madhya Pradesh, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

EXHIBITIONS 

1963: Drawings and Paintings, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata

1965: Drawings and Paintings, Bangla Sanskriti Sammelan, Kolkata

1966: Oil paintings, Galerie de Haut Pave, Paris

1968: Drawings and Paintings, Alliance Francaise de Madras, Chennai

1970: Ink and Mixed Media Works on Paper, Sarala Art Centre, Chennai

1972: Ink and Mixed Media Works on Paper, AIFACS Gallery, New Delhi, inaugurated by Shri V V Giri, President of India.

1976: Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Embassy of India, Paris

1977: Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Chanakya Art Gallery, New Delhi

1981: Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Dhoornimal Art Gallery, New Delhi

1981: Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

1982: Watercolour Paintings, Bithi Art Centre, Baroda

1983: Watercolour Paintings, Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad

1988: Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Sista’s Art Gallery by Kala Yatra, Bangalore

1990: Drawings, Sarala Art Centre, Chennai

1992: Drawings with Ink and Pastel on Paper, Nandan, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan

1993: Ink Brush Drawings on Poems by Namita Chowdhury, Little Gallery, Kolkata

1994: One Hundred Drawings, Seagull Art Foundation, Sukh Sagar, Kolkata

1994: Drawings, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1994-95: Drawings, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

1996: Drawings and Paintings, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata

1996: Drawings and Paintings, Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan

1996: Drawings, Gallery Foundation for Indian Artists, Amsterdam

1997: Drawings with Pastel on Paper, Gallerie Foundation for Indian Artists, Art Fair, Amsterdam

1998: Coloured Drawings with Pastel Paper, Foundation for Indian Artists, Amsterdam

1998: Drawings and Paintings with Ink and Pastel, Gallerie, Mohnjeet, Paris

1999: Paintings with Ink and Pastel on Paper, Fine Art Resource, Berlin

2001: Coloured Drawings with Ink and Pastel, Gajah Gallery, Singapore

2002: Drawings and Paintings with Ink and Pastel on Paper, Bose- Pacia Modern, New York

2006: One Man Show, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata 2007

2007: Abahaman-Flowing Life, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2008 'A Calligraphy of Touch and Gaze', presented by Kalakriti Art Gallery at ICIA, Mumbai

2012-13 'Lignes de Meditation', Gallery Veda, Chennai

2014 'Jogen Chowdhury: Formative to Recent', Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1957: Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi on View Till 1980

1965: Indian Painters in France, Nongent le Retrou

1967: Exhibition of artists-residents from Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris

1967: Prix le Franc de la Jeune Peinture, Galerie L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris

1970: Art Today- III, Kunika Chemould Gallery, New Delhi

1971: Second Triennale India, International Exhibition of Arts, Lalit Kale Akademi, New Delhi 1975: Third Triennale India, International Exhibition of Arts, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1976: International Exhibition, Cagnes-sur-Mer

1976: Pictorial Space, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1977: Fourth Triennale India, International Exhibition of Arts, Lalit Kale Akademi, New Delhi 1978: New Contemporaries, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1978: Fifteenth Sao Paolo Biennale, Brazil 1979 Asian Art Exhibition, Fukuoka, Japan

1979: Indian Painting, National Art Academy, Dubai

1980: Place for People, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1980: Seven Indian Painters, Worpswed, Hanover, Hamburg, Braunschweig, and Bayreuth

1982: Contemporary Indian Paintings, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC

1982: Contemporary Indian Paintings, Oxford Museum of Modern Art, Oxford

1982: Contemporary Indian Paintings, Festival of India, Royal Academy of Art, London

1982: Inaugural Exhibition, Roopankar Museum of Fine Arts, Bhopal

1984: Contemporary Indian Paintings, Tokyo and other cities in Japan

1985: Third Anniversary Exhibition, Roopankar Museum of Fine Arts, Bhopal

1985: Artistes Indians in France, Festival of India, Paris

1986: International Festival of Art, Baghdad

1936: Second Biennale of Havana, Cuba and also in Panama, Mexico and Brazil

1986: Contemporary Indian Painters, Germany and Poland

1986: First International Asian-European Biennale, Ankara

1986: Indian Art, Burlington, Worcester, Hanover, Pennsylvania, and New York

1986: Vision, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

1987: Contemporary Indian Art, Festival of India, Switzerland

1987: Contemporary Indian Art, Festival of India, Moscow

1988: Contemporary Indian Art, Festival of India, Japan

1938: Olympiad of Art, Seoul

1988: 25 years of Gallery Chemould- Anniversary Show, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1989: 750 Years of Times of India, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (VT Station), Mumbai

1990: Bombay Art Society Centenary Show, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1992: Silver Jubilee Exhibition, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

1992: Young Contemporary Artists from SAARC Countries, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and also in Thiruvananthapuram

1992: Three Men Show, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1993: Late Masters and Contemporary Artists, Oberoi Grand, Kolkata

1993: Wounds, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata, and New Delhi

1993: Trends and Images, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata

1994: Contemporary Indian Prints, Maltwood Art Museum, Victoria, Canada

1994: Indian Contemporary Miniatures, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata

1995: Seven Contemporary Artists, Le Monde del Art, Paris

1995: Fantasy CIMA Gallery, Kolkata

1995: International Print Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

1995: Contemporary Indian Art, Deutsche Bank, Mumbai

1995: Contemporary Indian Artists, Bose Pacia Modern, New York

1995: Contemporary Art of India-Korea-Japan, Seoul and Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

1995: Collection of Glenberra Art Museum, Gallery Raku, Kyoto Zoukei Art University, Kyoto 1995: Autumn Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art, AIFACS, New Delhi

1996: Contemporary Indian Paintings (from the Roopankar Museum of Fine Arts, Bhopal) Festival of Arts, Moscow

1996: Chamatkara, Whitley’s Art Gallery, London

1997: Intuitive Logic, Nehru Centre, Mumbai

1997: Tryst with Destiny- Art from Modern India (1947-1997), Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, CIMA Kolkata, and NGMA, New Delhi

1997: Image Beyond Image from the collection of Glenberra Art Museum, the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and Mumbai; Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata; Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore

1998: Search Within, Pernegg and Salzburg and National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, and Mumbai

1990: Multimedia, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata

1999: Watermark, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1999: Inaugural Exhibition, Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore

2000: Satabdi, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata and NGMA, Mumbai 2011

2000: Calcutta Painters, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

2000: Global View Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2000: Distillations, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai

2000: Vilas, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai

2001: Prabhav, Indian Embassy, Berlin

2001: Art of Bengal-Past & Present NGMA, Mumbai and CIMA Gallery, Kolkata

2001: Modem Indian Art Pundole Art Gallery, and Saffron Art, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York 2001: Two Man Show, Jamini Roy and Jogen Chowdhury, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2001: Works on Paper, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata

2002: Sidewinder, Indo-British artists show, British Council and CIMA Gallery, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Mumbai

2002: Aspects of Modem Indian Painting, Pundole Art Gallery and Saffron Art, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York

2002: Palette 2002, Contemporary Indian Artists, Palette Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

2002: Contemporary Indian Art, Art Musings, Mumbai

2003: Art of Bengal- A Vision Defined, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and CSMVS (formerly Prince of Wales Museum) Mumbai

2003: Rain, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2003: Drawing the Line, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi

2003: Faces, Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata

2003: A Celebration of Colours, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2003: Art of Modern India, The Rye Arts Centre, New York

2003: Of Memories, Dreams, Reveries, Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi

2003: Fair and Furious- Feminine Fables, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2003: Crossing Generations: Diverge- Forty years of Gallery Chemould, NGMA, Mumbai

2004: Realms of Fantasy, Delhi and Hong Kong Visual Art Centre, Hong Kong

2004: Portrait of a Decade, CIMA Gallery, Kolkata and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2004: Margi and the Des!, Lalit Kala Akademi Gallery, New Delhi

2004: Indian Artists for France-2004, The Embassy of France in India, New Delhi

2004: Harmony Show, Nehru Centre, Mumbai

2004: After Dark, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2004: Indian Contemporary Art, Hart Gallery, Beijing

2006: Shadow Lines, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2006: Inventing/inverting Traditions, Grosvenor Vadehra, London as & Achievements

ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

1970: Becomes a member of Calcutta Painters, a group representing Calcutta Reality

1972: Joins Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, as Keeper of Art (1972-87)

1975: Founder Secretary of Gallery 26, Artists Forum, New Delhi

1976: Visits France on an invitation and participates in the international exhibition of Cagnes-sur-Mer

1977: Participates in artists’ camp at Kasauli organized by Vivan Sundaram

1979: Participates in artists’ workshop of the [alit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1981: Founder Joint Editor of the art journal, Art Today along with the artist, Suvaprasanna

1982: Participates in artists workshop of Indian and German Artists in Braunschweig, Germany and Arezzo, Italy

1982: Participates in Festival of India. U.K

1983: Participates in artist’s workshop of Indian and German artists at Kasauli

1985: Participates in the Festival of India, France

1986: Represents Indian in the first International Festival of Art, Baghdad

1987: Joins Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, Visva-Bharati as Reader, Department of Painting

1990: Jury Member, Biennale Exhibition, Roopankar Museum of Fine Arts, Bhopal

1990: RPG publishes a portfolio of six paintings, released in Kolkata by Jyoti Basu, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal

1992: Participates in Confluence, and-French art camp, Kolkata

1993: Curator for the exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art, Dhaka organized by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi

1993: Illustrates a book of poems by Namita Chowdhury (Pratikshan Publication)

1993: Participates in art camp with other contemporary Indian artists at Pattaya, Thailand, Diarnona West Bengal, Kolkata, and Puri, Orissa

1995: Auction of Chester Herwitz Collection, Sotheby’s New York

1995: Christie's auction, London 1996 Member, Advisory Committee, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (1996-98)

1996: Visits Glenbarra Museum, Japan

1996: Commissioner, Sixth Bharat Bhavan Biennale of Contemporary Indian Art, Roopankar Museum of Fine Arts, Bhopal

1996: Participates in Chamatkara, organized by CIMA Gallery, at Whitley’s Art Gallery, London

1997: Jury Member for Indian Section of the Triennale, India

1997: Convener of the seminar, Calcutta Metropolitan Festival of Arts, Kolkata

1998: Member, Advisory Committee, NGMA, New Delhi (1998-2000)

1999: Participates in art workshops: of Indian and Bangladeshi artists organized by the Bengal Foundation: Dhaka; at Nathdwara, organized by the Archer Group, Ahmedabad; at Khajuraho, organized by Sehar

2000: Visits Japan on invitation from Arai Kampo and Tagore Foundation, Ujiie and delivers a lecture on the art of Kala Bhavan and its relationship with Japan and Southeast Asia

2000: Portfolio of Serigraphs prints, Archer Gallery, Ahmedabad, released by Bhupen Khaknar

2000: Participates in the exhibition of Indian Art, Berlin

2003: Jury Member, Singapore Biennale Exhibition of Art, Singapore

2004: Participates in art camps in Australia, Thailand, Mumbai organized by RPG Jharkhand and by the Zest Group

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS

1981: The Arts of India, by Basil Grey, Phaidon

1996: Image and Imagination by Geeti Sen, Mapin

1996: Jogen Chowdhury Chitrakala (Bengali), Arun Sen

1997: Indian Contemporary Art: Post Independence, Vadehra Art Gallery

1997: Major Trends in Indian Art, Lalit Kala Akademi

1997: The Flamed Mosaic, Indian Contemporary Painting by Neville Neville Tuli, HEART

2000: Dreams 1900-2000, edited by Lynn Gamwell, Cornell University Press

2000: When Was Modernism, by Gaeta Kapur, Tulika

2001: Indian Art, by Partha Mitter, Oxford

2002: A Special Issue on Jogen Chowdhury (Bengali), Nandimukh Publication

2003: Contemporary Art of Bengal, Mapin

2003: Indian Art—An Overview, edited by Gayatri Sinha, Rupa & Co.

2003: Ten Contemporary Artists of Bengal (Bengali) Pratikshan

2006: Jogen Chowdhury Enigmatic Visions, published by Glenbarra Art Museum, collected works from exhibitions at Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

ABOUT THE ARTIST

FILMS1997: A Painter’s Portrait, K. Bikram Singh, produced for Delhi Doordarshan

Hailing from a village in present-day Bangladesh, Jogen Chowdhury moved to Calcutta following Partition. A student of Prodosh Das Gupta, Chowdhury worked in a confident expressionistic style of figuration in his early years. His world was full of lewd men with bellies like sacks and women with loose, hanging breasts: his gallery of the grotesque. Over the years his pictorial language has undergone a radical change. A three-year sojourn in Paris reinforced his creative thought processes as he worked to arrive at a distinctive personal style. Chowdhury interprets the human form as simplified, as if through x-ray vision: attenuated, exaggerated, fragmented, reconfigured and rephrased, thus intensifying its visual and conceptual expression.

For Chowdhury, the body has to communicate in silence. Often placing them against a dark, vacant background, he does not appropriate the specificities of place or environment; instead, he transfers feelings of anguish on to the solitary figure through his gestural mark-making. His deep, dense crosshatched lines simulate body hair and a web of veins take away the smooth sensuality of the classical body to manifest the textures of life, and often a battered body. Chowdhury believes art in India is neither subsumed in the miniature traditions nor in those of Ajanta, for India is neither a monolith nor a static entity and that a notion of Indianness should not be fixed into some kind of timeless loop.

Jogen Chowdhury has been awarded the Madhya Pradesh government’s Kalidas Samman and at the 2nd Havana Biennale in Cuba. Chowdhury lives and works in Kolkata and Santiniketan.

Notification - We do not usually display Jogen Chowdhury's work, only send it to private art collectors and interested art buyers.

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