Artist and activist Jogen Chowdhury born in 1939, Faridpur, Bangladesh. He joined as a teacher in the Painting Dept. Kala Bhavana after leaving the post of Keeper of Art at the Rashtrapati Bhavana in 1987.

He developed a unique style of painting with ink, water colour and pastel. As a teacher Jogen is always a warm inspiration to his students. He organized and founded art activitiers such as Delhi Founded Gallery 26 Artists Forum, Calcutta Painters, Kolkata International Foundation of Arts. Professor Emeritus of Visva Bharati, Kala Bhavana Jogen Chowdhury lives and works in Santiniketan and Kolkata.

Jogen Chowdhury himself is a master of lines and he has mastered to make the curves depict the character of his figures. By careful distortion of the form he imparts the air of caricature in his figures, figures of men and women. The figure is always the most important and conveys all the artist has to express. Colour, he uses though, is to provide matter into the form.

Artist Statement

I am passionately engaged in practice of visual art for a quite long time and all through expressed life in various forms and colors in my art works. Man is alwarys in the centre point of my work. I get reacted and disturbed with social disturbances taking place allover around me. I am much worried with recent thoughtless political anarchy, terrorism and killings in West Bengal. I see how inhumanity is dominating over man and kindness. The society and culture is gradualy transforming to chaos and unkindness bereft of peace and sanity. Party politics, terrorism and violence is destroying the network of finer social fabricof the people of the state. A shadow of darkness is spreading all over. The whole society is moving towards a black hole. It disturbs me. I feel restlessness.

 

Education :

• 1960 : Formal training in art at Govt. College of Art and Craft, Kolkata
• 1965 to 67 : Paris for higher study at Ecole des Beaux Arts and in William Hayter’s Atelier 17 on French Government Scholarship

 

Exhibitions :

• 2009 : Singapore Art Fair (Glenbarra Art Museum), Singapore
• 2007 : Vadhera Art Gallery, New Delhi
• 2006 : Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
• 2002 : Drawings and Paintings with Ink and Pastel on Paper, Bose-Pacia Modern, New York
• 2001 : Colored Drawings with Ink and Pastel, Gajah Gallery, Singapore
• 1999 : Drawings and Paintings with Ink and Pastel on Paper, Fine Art Resource, Berlin
• 1998 : Colored Drawings with Ink and Pastel, Gallerie, Mohnjeet, Paris
• 1997 : Drawings with Pastel on Paper, Gallerie Foundation for Indian Artists, Art Fair, Amsterdam
• 1996 : Drawings and Paintings, Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan
• 1995, 1994 : Drawings, Sakshi Gallery, Kolkata
• 1992 : Drawings with Ink and Pastel on Paper, Nandan, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan
• 1990 : Drawings, Sarala Art Centre, Chennai
• 1988 : Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Sista’s Art Gallery organized by Kala Yatra, Bangalore
• 1983 : Watercolor Paintings, Contemporary Art Gallery,Ahmedabad
• 1982 : Watercolor Paintings, Bithi Art Centre, Baroda
• 1981 : Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
• 1977 : Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Chanakya Art Gallery, New Delhi
• 1976 : Ink and Pastel Works on Paper, Embassy of India, Paris
• 1967 : Oil paintings, Galerie du Haut Pave, Paris
• 1965 : Bangla Sanskriti Sammelan, Kolkata
• 1963 : Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata

 

Group Shows :

• 2008 : 'Review', Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
• 2007 : ‘Body Mind Soul’, organized by Gallery Threshold at Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat centre, New Delhi
• 2004 : ‘Realms of Fantasy’, New Delhi and Hong Kong Visual Art Centre, Hong Kong
• 2002 : Sidewinders, Indo-British Artists Show, British Council and Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
• 2001 : ‘Prabhav’, Indian Embassy, Berlin
• 2000 : ‘Satabdi’, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi

 

Awards :

• 2003 : Jury Member, Singapore Biennale Exhibition of Art, Singapore
• 2001 : Kalidas Sanman, Government of Madhya Pradesh
• 1986 : Award In the 2nd Biennale of Havana, Cuba
• 1966 : Awarded Prix le France de la Jeune Peinture, Paris
• 1965-67 : Awarded French Government Scholarship, Studied at L’Ecole Nationale Superiere des Beaux Arts and Atelier 17, Paris
• 1965-67 : French Government Scholarship to Ecole Nationale, Superieure des Beaux -Arts, Paris

 

Camps :

• 2003 : NGMA by Habiart
• 2003 : Foundation Artist’s Bandra
• 2000 : Arnala Camp by Bombay Art Society

 

Auction :

• 2008 : Sotheby’s, New York

 

Collections :

• Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan
• Jahangir Nicoldon Art Collection, Mumbai
• National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
• Victoria & Albert Museum, London
• President's House, New Delhi
• Rupankar Museum of Fine Art, Bhopal
• Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
• Peabody Esses Museum, USA
• Punjab University Museum, Chandigarh
• Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi