After a hiatus of seven long years, eminent artist Jatin Das is back with an exhibition at Mumbai, the city he loves.
The show titled 'Figures in Motion' will be presented at the Jehangir Art Gallery from October 4 to 16. This new body of work exemplifies Das’ inexhaustible energy. The artist vitally shines through his powerful lines and his unending desire to explore human figures, beyond time and space in the new exhibition.
“A lot of sweat and blood has flown under the bridge. I am a loner. I exhibit very little now, but I work everyday. I don’t use words like creativity, mood, inspiration. I feel everyday I am starting to paint for the first time. I paint and capture elements that excite me, assimilating from various visual cultures; traditional and contemporary. I draw mainly human figures, completely devoid of embellishments and any reference to time and space. They are simply energised bare figures, in motion,” says Jatin.
Jatin Das has been painting for almost 60 years. Born in December 1941 in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, India, he studied at the Sir JJ School of Art, Bombay, under Professor S.B. Palsikar.
“In my early days in Mumbai, when I was a student at the Sir J J School of Art, we were asked to submit ten sketches a day. By self-imposed discipline, I decided to do three hundred a day! At times I would make my left hand a model in different positions and sketch. I would often go to the zoo, drawing flights of birds and movements of animals. The sketchbook accompanied me everywhere. Even to dance performances, where in the dark, I sketched the dancer’s hands etching into space,” recounts Das.
To understand Das’ work is to understand the artist himself. His artistic expression stems from a deep-rooted and honest interest in all that he interacts with. The effortless and sparse use of strokes immortalize his figures on the canvas. The silent melody pervades every work, regardless of the medium. He deftly captures ‘the figures in motion’ in his paintings, drawings and graphics. Deceptively calm, probably through his choice of colours. Over the last decade, his figures have only emerged as more resplendent, and as captivating as ever.
“To draw a line on a surface is to accept the challenge of an arrogant virgin space. It is like blood flowing through the tip of the nib. It is like a river flowing. I believe strength of an artist is in his drawing. The power of creating a flowing line, without it being superfluous, is when a line meets another line, criss-crossing one line demanding another and so on. There is fusion and an energy. A ‘dead line’ destroys the flow creating a dead end,” says Das.
He has held 68 solo shows, in India and abroad and has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions and artist camps. He works in oil, watercolour, ink, graphics and conté pencil. From his mural The Journey of India: Mohenjo-Daro to Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament of India, to his welded steel installation at the Bhilai Steel Plant in Madhya Pradesh and most recently his mural at Bangalore airport, Das has worked with a wide range of materials and created several landmark murals and sculpture installations. His works feature in several public and private collections in India and abroad.
Das is the Founder and Chairman of the JD Centre of Art in Bhubaneswar, Odisha that will house classical, contemporary, traditional and folk art under one roof. During the last 35 years, he has built a personal collection of contemporary and traditional art, antiquity and crafts that includes the enormous ‘Pankha’ collection — which consists of more than 6000 hand-fans. In 2012, Jatin Das was the recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan award.
