Subhaprasanna Bhattacharjee

Born in Kolkata in 1947, Shuvaprasanna completed his graduation from the Indian College of Art Rabindra Bharti University, Kolkata in 1969. He was an active member of the Calcutta Painters group.

The city of Kolkata has always figured prominently in his work. His themes come from his personal interactions with its urban milieu its sickness and sordidness, its violence and vulnerability and all that compounds its existential agony. In the 1960s and 1970s, his work was influenced by the turbulence and political violence of Kolkata.

Shuvaprasanna has depicted varying moods of the city and its people, its places, and all its facets that make the city distinctive. As he states, There isn't another city like Kolkata anywhere in the world. In the heart of it, I find innumerable themes, subjects. He doesn't merely portray reality as a matter of fact and his presentation of reality often has dream like elements in it. In terms of technique, Shuvaprasanna boasts a precise, finely executed style that yields an unmistakable visual intensity. He works comfortably in an assortment of media, including oil on canvas, charcoal, and mixed media.

Explaining his thought-process and philosophy as a painter, he notes What every creator wishes to achieve is a universal appeal. There should be no language problem while judging the merits of a painting. One should go beyond themes, beyond words. There can be no clear-cut definition for feelings, nor should you wish to seek any logical explanation.

Shuvaprasanna's series of paintings, Icons and Illusions, marked a creative breakthrough for the artist in a number of ways. Whereas he had been known in the past as an urban artist with subject matter that reflected the byways, alleyways, birds, and people of his native Kolkata, in Icons and Illusions, he relished more in divinities and flowers. The iconic figures of Krishna, Radha, and Ganesha that found lyrical expression in the Icons series are modern representations and sophisticated idealizations of the same images in the popular media.

His work has been exhibited extensively in India and internationally in Bangladesh, Singapore, France, Switzerland, and Germany.

BORN

20 October 1947 Kolkata

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1969 Graduated from Indian College of Art, Rabindra Bharti University, Kolkata

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2011 Shuvaprasanna Recent & Retrospective, Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad, Emami Chisel, Kolkata

2011 Shuvaprasanna Recent Works, Centre of International Modern Art CIMA, Kolkata

2011 Traveling Retrospective at Lalit Kala Akademi, Art Indus, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi, Tao Art Gallery, New Delhi

2008 Night Watch, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2007 Madhura The Golden Flute, organized by Indian Contemporary at Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong

2006 Evocative Expressions In Quest of Krishna, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2006 Evocative Expressions In Quest of Krishna, ITC Sonar Bangla Art Gallery, Kolkata

2006 The Divine Flute, Aicon Gallery, USA

2005 The Golden Flute, organized by Indian Fine Art at Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

2004 Lila, organized by Art Indus, New Delhi at Shridharni Art Gallery, New Delhi

2004 The Divine Flute, Gallery ArtsIndia, New York

2002 Icons and Illusions, Gallery ArtsIndia, New York

2002 Madhura, Art Indus, New Delhi

2000 Shuvaprasannas Icon and Retrospective, organized by Art Indus at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi

2000 Fine Art Company, Mumbai

2000 Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore

2000 Artworld, Chennai

1998 An Appreciation of Ted Hughes, Exhibition of Crow Paintings, British Council, Kolkata

1998 Art Indus, New Delhi

1995 Painters Home Gallery, Kolkata

1995 Gallery Sanskriti, New Delhi

1994 Vadhera Art Gallery, New Delhi

1994 Galerie Grewal Mohanjeet, Paris, France

1993 Metropolis, Portraits of Calcutta, Centre for International Modern Art CIMA, Kolkata

1993 ABC Gallery Benares

1992 Kunstverein, Ludwigsburg, Germany

1992 Studio Helmi Prechter, Augsburg, Germany

1991 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

1991 Art Age Gallery, Kolkata

1991 La Gallerie, Dhaka, Bangladesh

1990 Indian Museum, Kolkata

1990 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1990 Sridharani Art Gallery, New Delhi

1989 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1989 The Gallery, Chennai

1988 IDM Gallery, Munich, Germany

1988 St Paulus Fastellte, Ludwigsburg, Germany

1987 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

1985 Painters Home Gallery, Kolkata

1983 Calcutta Art Gallery, Kolkata

1983 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1983 Kreissparkasse, Ludwigsburg, Germany

1983 Volkshochschule, Essen, Germany

1981 Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata

1981 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

1980 National Museum, Singapore

1980 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

1979 Walburgischule, Werl, Germany

1979 Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata

1978 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

1977 Decor Art Gallery, Kolkata

1976 Gallery Denbarg, Geneva, Switzerland

1975 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

1975 Gallery Atlantis, Aix-En-Provence, France

1974 Gallery Les Hirondelles Geneva, Switzerland

1973 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

1972 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011 Aureus, Gallerie Nvya, New Delhi

2010 Black is Beautiful, India Fine Art, Mumbai

2009 Mark of Masters -2, Art and soul, Mumbai

2009 Sacred and Secular, India Fine Art, Mumbai

2009 Think Small, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2009 Entity, in association with Asian Academy of Film & Television at M.E.C. Art Gallery, New Delhi

2009 The Root of Everything, Gallery Mementos, Bangalore

2008 India Splendor, organized by Habiart Foundation at Singapore

2007 Power of Peace, organized by Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai at Bali

2007 Organized by Fiidaa Art at Singapore

2007 Organized by Rangoli Art at Singapore

2007 Organized by Artworld at Singapore

2007 Organized by Mystic Inspiration at Dubai

2006 Drawing Show an Act of Art II, Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

2006 Organized by Gallery at Positive at Singapore

2006 Organized by Gallery Art Resource Trust at Singapore

2006 Organized by Fiidaa Art at Singapore

2005 Reflections Art Gallery, Hong Kong

2004 Scenes from a Voyage, organized by Art Voyage in association with Art Pilgrim

2004 Parbon, organized by The High Commission of India in Dhaka, Real Concepts and MAA Consortium, Dhaka at Sheraton Hotel, Dhaka

1997 Colors and Independence, National Gallery of Modern Art (N.G.M.A), New Delhi.

1997 Bengal Show, Singapore by Apparrao Galleries

1997 Indian Best, New Delhi

1997 Within the Frame, New York, London, New Delhi

1997 Major Trends in Indian Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1996 Autumn, Exhibitions by Centre for International Modern Art CIMA, Kolkata at New Delhi

1995 Art from the Heart, Exhibition by the People for Animals, Bombay, Delhi

1992 To Encounter Others, Kassel

1991 Art for Spastics Auction Madras The Downtrodden and We, by Lalit Kala Akademi

1990 300 Years of Calcutta, Birla Academy of Art and Culture

1987 Indian Drawings Today, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1985 Graphic Art in India since 1950

1977 Gallery 26, New Delhi

1975 Galerie Kunsthaus Stuttgart, Germany

1975 Silver Jubilee Exhibition, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1975 Inaugural Show, Decor Art Gallery, Kolkata

1971 Calcutta Painters, New Delhi

1970 Calcutta Painters, Kolkata and Mumbai

1970 Epar Bangla Per Bangla, Kolkata

1969 Arts and Artists, Kolkata

SELECTED JOINT EXHIBITIONS

1997 With Shipra Bhattacharya, Art Today, New Delhi

PARTICIPATIONS

2012 Synergy, 12th Anniversary Show, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 Summer Show, Centre of International Modern Art CIMA, Kolkata

2010 Evolve 10th Anniversary Show, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 Annual Exhibition, Chawla Art Gallery, New Delhi

2009 Entity, Annual Exhibition, M.E.C Art Gallery, New Delhi

2008 Harvest, organized by Arushi Arts at The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi

2003 6th EME Triennale Mondiale DEstampes Petit Format in France

1995 3rd International Biennale of Prints, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

1993 Visited Germany, sponsorship of Inter Nationes

1992 The Museum of Modern art, Sitama, Japan

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

1991 7th International Triennale India, New Delhi

1991 Visited United States under auspices of the USIA

1991 Visited England, sponsorship of the Brit. Council

1990 2nd International Biennale, Ankara, Turkey

1989 Centenary Invitees Show of Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

1986 2nd International Biennale Havanna, Cuba

1985 3rd Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh

HONORS AND AWARD

1979 Awarded by All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society AIFACS, New Delhi

1978 Awarded by State Lalit Kala Academy, West Bengal

1977 Awarded by Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata