Jogen Chowdhury
(b.1939)
Jogen Chowdhury studied at the Government College of Art and Crafts, Kolkata, from 1955-60, followed by a stint at L’Ecole Nationale Superior des Beax-Arts, Paris, in 1965-57 on a French Government Scholarship. In 1966, Chowdhury was awarded the Prix le France de la Jeune Peinture in Paris, and, in 1986, received an award at the Second Biennale of Havana, Cuba. He was presented the Kalidas Sanman by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 2001. Some of his recent exhibitions include ‘Jogen Chowdhury: Formative to Recent’, Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata, 2014; ‘Lignes de Meditation’, Gallery Veda, Chennai, 2013; ‘Ideas of the Sublime’, presented by Vadehra Art Gallery at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 2013. Jogen Chowdhury is known for his ability to successfully marry traditional imagery with the zeitgeist of contemporary painting, in a skillful blend of an urbane self-awareness and a highly localized Bengali influence. His early works show an attention to figuration that carries through in his current pieces. He 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.
