Philosophy and processes of a veteran artist

• Born in Mayurbhanj, Orissa in 1941, Jatin Das studied at Sir J. J School of Art, Mumbai (1957-62). Among his selected solos are 'Hand-held Space' courtesy Gallery Art & Soul, Mumbai (2010-11); shows at the Artists Alley Gallery, San Francisco; Chelsea Arts Club, London; 'Earth Bodies', Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Delhi (all in 2009); ‘Body and Line’, Jehangir Gallery, Mumbai; a show courtesy ICCR; ‘Charged Figures’, CIMA, Kolkata (all in 2009); ‘Journeys across Foreign Lands’, LKA, Delhi (2006); 1X1 Art Space, Dubai (2006) and Archaeological Museum, Thessaloniki, Greece (2005).

• His recent major group shows and participations include 'Masterclass', Dhoomimal Gallery, Delhi (2011) 'Celebrations 2011', Kumar Gallery, Delhi (2011); 'Master’s Corner' at Jehangir Gallery; India International Art Fair, Delhi (2010); 'Contemporary Printmaking in India' courtesy Priyasri Gallery, Mumbai (2010); and 'Indian Harvest' courtesy Crimson, Bangalore in Singapore (2009).

• A recipient of Senior Fellowship, Department of Culture, Government of India (1989-90), he was conferred Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity Italian Government, Italian President Award, Delhi and the D.Litt. (Honoris Causa) by Utkal University of Culture, Bhubaneswar in 2007.

• The passionate painter seldom thinks of a definitive concept before he starts working on a composition. Very often the process is akin to that of a child groping in the dark, hoping to find an object of desire. According to him, he doesn’t try to explore the theory of his work or fathom the creative process, but for the fact that he simply loves painting. Even his choice of surface as well as media depends on that particular moment or the place and the image he is painting!

• For example, the paper he utilized for the Cairo ink & gouache sketches reflected the mélange and color of the city, whereas the shades of paint and texture of paper he employed for the African series was tuned to the way of living there. He has explained, “Everywhere, actual human beings are also providing me with images constantly. When I was in Kerala, I painted typical Malayali people. While in Cairo and Africa, I painted the people there.”