What can one expect from a retrospective show on an artist who has been mesmerising art-lovers for close to six decades? Obviously, a treasure trove and in the case of Jogen Chowdhury, one of the most eminent artists in India, 250 works collected over the past 60 years.
“This show explains my trajectory in life, how my work has changed over the years,” says Jogen, adding, “The exhibition is a humble attempt to show my works from different years, but since most of them have been bought, we could only put together 250 works — the oldest one dated back to 1955 when I had just joined college,” says Chowdhury.
The artist who born in 1939, went on to study at the Government College of Art and Crafts, Kolkata, and later after getting a French Government Scholarship left to study at the Ecole Nationale, Superieure des Beaux -Arts, Paris in 1965-67.
Today Chowdhury is considered as one of the most prominent Indian artists, but his start wasn’t easy. “I was born in East Bengal (now Bangladesh). After the Partition, we shifted to India and we had no proper place to stay, but, I believe that it was this struggle that helped me become stronger. Slowly, as we got back on our feet, I started taking tuitions to help out and simultaneously studied art,” says Jogen who was also the curator of the art collection at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1972.
But, despite all things against him, Chowdhury knew one thing, “I was always confident about my art. I knew I would never leave art; that confidence has made me the person I am today,” he explains.
The show will also feature how his styles, genres and mediums evolved over the decades. “When you walk through the exhibition, you will find yourself in different eras of my life,” he says.
Ask Prshant Lahoti, gallery owner of Kalakriti Art Gallery, about the show and he says, “This show was already hosted in Santiniketan last year. And I’ve been planning to bring it here since a year now. It will be a great experience for young artists and people to learn from Jogen.” Prshant will also host a show, where Jogen’s 20-25 works, from his private collection will be on display. “I’ve been collecting Jogen’s works since the past 10 years and the oldest that I have is from 1965. This is a great way to honour an artist like him,” he adds.
