JATIN DAS
PAINTER
He is a painter, sculptor, muralist, print-maker, teacher and cultural expert. Besides this, he is a renowned poet and a great cook too! Born in December 1941 in Baripada, Mayurbhanj, Odisha, he went to study at Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai, at age 17. Heis work describes his work as being not being narrative. “They are metaphoric, poetic, reminiscent of human energy and experience, beyond any specific context of time and place.”
He is Jatin Das, who is known for his marvellous treatment of human forms in his internationally renowned paintings. During his 60 years of artistic career, he has had more than 70 solo exhibitions in India and abroad and he has been part of innumerable group shows. In 2012 he was conferred the prestigious Padma Bhushan, presented by the President of India. He has also been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Literature by various universities including Rabindra Bharti University in Kolkata. His works have been featured in several public and private collections all over the world. His large painting ‘The Journey of India: Mohenjo Daro to Mahatma Gandhi’ (7x68ft), is at the Parliament in New Delhi and was inaugurated in 2001 by the then Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Jatin Das has been a visiting professor in various universities in India and abroad. In Delhi, hHe taught at the Jamia Millia Islamia University, College of Art and the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi.
“My concepts, ideas, and themes in my work are personal. I have convictions, concerns, and commitments. I am rooted in my culture yet it doesn’t define me.” – remarks the enlightened artist very humbly.
His knowledge and passion for folk and traditional art forms led him to establishfounding the JD Centre of Art in Bhubaneswar. It aims to promote contemporary, folk, classical and traditional visual art, all under one roof. VARINDIA salutes this man of forms and ideas, recognising him as a Crown Jewels of Odisha.