A retrospective on the influential Indian artist that comes to Mumbai this weekend, takes a step back to view highlights from his oeuvre
Couple II, ink, pastel and poster paint by Jogen Chowdhury. Pic Courtesy/Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
The Mumbai iteration of Into The Half Light And Shadow Go I, an expansive retrospective exhibition of the modern Indian artist Jogen Chowdhury curated by Jesal Thacker and Soumik Nandy Majumdar, will look at nearly 200 selected works including drawings, paintings and archives from 1955 to the present year. The show begins with its title, taken from Jibanananda Das’ 1930 Bengali poem Bodh, which speaks about a poet’s creative process. It alludes to the artist’s response to his environment at different stages in his life from the aftermath of the Partition to his upbringing in a Kolkata refugee settlement, and other cultural and political events.
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Taking us through some of the works, Thacker shares, “We were keen to show his early works including academic studies, because if you look at them closely, you will see glimpses of his later works in it. His experiences of migration and refugee settlements during his childhood are etched into his psyche,” she continues, “In the work, My Brother Studying In The Hurricane, where you see his brother engulfed in darkness sitting under a lantern, you will see Jogen’s use of black and the crosshatch technique which is interesting because it comes from these early experiences and early works, when he expressed [his introspection about and response to life events].”
Jogen Chowdhury’s Retired Horse, oil on canvas. Pic Courtesy/Jogen Chowdhury and Gallery Art Exposure
While we consume information about significant societal events, it is through reflective and artistic expressions of and responses to these collectively lived or individual experiences that we understand and fully face the human condition. Thacker reflects, “Chowdhury has never shied away from expressing violence or political strife. Yet, in this expression of violence, the artist depicts an empathetic gaze to perceive the acts that the painting talks about. This balance of empathy is what I feel Jogen stands for, and it keeps us aware of the pain that abides in these moments.”
Similarly, Retired Horse, one of Chowdhury’s rare oil paintings displays the side view of a worn-out horse whose skeleton is visible, yet, Thacker remarks, it is not a painting of death, but an expression of power, a movement of regeneration and of defeating death that comes in the face of violence.
Jogen Chowdhury, Somak Mitra and Jesal Thacker
The show will make way for the launch of the book Shadow Lines: Tracing the Journey. Somak Mitra, director, Gallery Art Exposure, Kolkata that presents the exhibition, summarises, “It is an exhaustive publication comprising over 1,000 works by Chowdhury at different pivotal phases of his life from 1955
to 2023.”
On November 5 to November 25; 11 am to 7.30 pm (all days)
AT Snowball Studios, Mohatta Bhavan, Worli.
Free
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