Tuesday, August 28, 2012

An artist driven by Indian culture and his own sensitivity

Veteran artist Jatin Das is fascinated by the human form. The main concern of his artistic quest is the human predicament. The human figures within the paintings appear to speak their own language.

Throwing light on his painterly processes, he reveals that he seldom thinks of a definitive concept before starting out. He adds, “I don’t paint to a specific theme. It takes its own shape automatically.” As far as the inspiration for his works is concerned, he draws it from whatever he is doing – like even a simple interaction. A painting is something beyond a painter, he explains, contrary to the common belief that it’s a documentary of the painter’s personal life. His paintings don’t essentially have any theme; they are about a journey, but don’t narrate a tale.

His suite of miniature-round painting, entitled ‘Hand-held Space’, was exhibited in Mumbai in 2010-11. It included works done over the last decade. It’s comprised of captivating collections of his canvases that can probably be held intimately and painted!

He had quipped on the eve of his show at the Museum Art Gallery: “I paint human forms - sometimes metaphoric, sometimes poetic and suggestive, other times. The figures are mostly devoid of any embellishments. According to the artist, these figures were always bare from the beginning itself. A woman figure even doesn’t have hands because they are not needed, the artist explains. His paintings of female figures, especially exude a sensuous mood, conveying a sense of the beauty and the intrinsic emotions.

The master artist never forced his daughter Nandita to take up painting or any other career. She had freedom to make her career choices. However, he doesn’t appreciate that Bollywood seems to have taken over most other art forms.  He reminisces that theatre, painting and Hindi films were at the same level back in the 1960-70s. Instead of moaning over the state of affairs, the artist is trying to change things in a small way. He has set up the JD Centre of Art in Orissa. He calls it the only venue that encourages both traditional and modern artists in India.

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