Sanat Kar

My works play with the deep and dark corners of the human mind. My canvases have a deep and melancholic quality.

Most of Sanat Kar's works are surreal and have a curious dreamlike, mostly nightmarish, appearance. The figures are distorted and barely recognizable and leave an uncomfortable feeling behind them. The same treatment is given to objects. As a result, all of his paintings float on the edge of reality without ever getting there, symbolizing the mysteries of life to which there are no answers.

Born in 1935 in Santiniketan, West Bengal, Kar obtained his diploma in painting from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta in 1955.

The artist kept a low profile and let his work speak for him. His paintings are an eloquent testimony to his talent and artistic power. He used the tempera medium most frequently in his work and there are layers within layers that emerge upon closer inspection. One of his favorites is the image of the sea and the angry grayish green from which men and women emerge like newborns, still with placental fluid obscuring their faces. A large number of creatures are amphibians, demonstrating the pervasive influence of water on our lives and the fear it can generate.

Birth and death, the beginning and end of the cycle of life held endless fascination for Kar, as did the grotesque and the macabre. He sometimes draws attention to faces that are images of decay and contours that look like masks. Occasionally in his work, there appear bulging eyes, bulbous and flattened noses, loose lips, and an expression that symbolizes the human being who is rapidly approaching the end and losing all interest and dignity in dealing.

The colors that Kar used were in line with his somber mood. Mauves, dark greens, browns, magentas, and grays do nothing to alleviate the omnipresent darkness. He skillfully played with alternating levels of light and darkness to highlight the atmosphere of sadness. The texture of the material he worked with also contributes to the aura and his detailed calligraphy lends credibility to the whole.

BORN

1935 West Bengal

DIED

January 9, 2023

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1950-55 Studied at Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2006 The Lyrical Mudra, ArtsIndia, New York

2006 Akarprakar, Kolkata

2002-03 Retrospective Bronzes and Engravings, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta and Mumbai

1980 75 Nandan Gallery, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan

1981 Goa

1985 Sarla Art Gallery, Chennai

1988 79 Bengaluru

1991, 89, 85, 70 Bombay

1991, 84, 72, 69 New Delhi

2000, 1994, 92, 90, 67, 62 Calcutta

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011, 12 Reprise 2011, Aicon Gallery, New York

2010 The Living Insignia, Ensign Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Painters' Perception of Images and Symbols, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata

2010 The Drawing Laboratory, Aicon Gallery, New York

2009 The Root of Everything, Mementos Gallery, Bangalore

2000 Embassy of India, Berlin

1999 Bengal Foundation, Dhaka

1990 Bombay

1988 Art for Cry, Mumbai, Calcutta, New Delhi and Bangalore

1988 Festival of India, Takaoka Municipal Museum and Meguro Art Museum, Japan

1987 Eight contemporary artists, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta

1985 Indian Printmaking Today, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1983 India in print, Koninklijk Institute Vorde, Amsterdam

PARTICIPATIONS

2010 National Print Portfolio, Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad

2008 Moderns, Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with Embassy of India, Amman, Jordan

2003 Demonstrations, organized by Delhi Art Gallery, World Trade Centre, Mumbai, and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

1985 Fourth International Exhibition of Small Graphic Forms, Polan, Lodz

1984 British International Print Biennial, United Kingdom

1976 Tokyo Biennale, Tokyo

HONORS AND AWARD

1997 Kala Vibhushan

1996 Shiromani Puraskar, Calcutta

1993 Lalit Kala Academy Award from West Bengal State, Kolkata

1978, Prize 84, 92, International Print Exhibition, Indian Fine Arts and Crafts Society AIFACS, New Delhi

1973 Award, Indian Fine Arts and Crafts Society AIFACS, New Delhi