Style :
Atin Basak says that his recent body of work represents the beliefs and ways of life in the East or the Orient. The recluses and sages that he creates in his etchings and lithographs on paper have a certain quality that places them above and beyond the ‘madding crowd’ of humanity. Although they are alone, they seem to be perceptive, judicious and erudite people who have seen and experienced the world as it is, and then made the choice to live apart from it.
In works with titles like ‘Hermit’ and ‘Solitude’, the artist’s flawlessly controlled use of shade and texture helps to build the characters of these subjects adeptly depicting their self-confidence and personal power. Basak places Sanskrit letters in these works to similarly portray a sense of age-old tradition, understanding and wisdom in a world that seems to have forgotten the value of everything that is not modern.
About the Artist and his work :
Born : 1966 in Kolkata.
Education :
1993 First Class in MA (Printmaking), Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
1991 First Class in BVA (Painting), Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata
Selected Solo Exhibitions :
2000 – Les Comptoirs de L’Inde, Paris
2000 – Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop and Gallery, UK
2000 – Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1999 – Gallery Katayun, Kolkata
1994 – Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
1992 – Kolkata
Selected Group Exhibitions :
2011 – ‘The Aviary’, Ganges Art Gallery, Kolkata
2009 – ‘Entity’, MEC Art Gallery, New Delhi
2000 – Galerie Grewal Mohanjeet, Paris
2000 – Maison de L’Inde, Paris
2000 – Macau International Exhibition of Prints, Macau Museum of Art
1995,98,2000 – Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi
Joint Exhibitions :
1992,94,96 – Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
Honours and Awards :
2000 – French Government Scholarship, Ecole Superieure D’Art De Caen
2000 – Charles Wallace India Trust Arts Scholar, Edinburgh
2000 – Award from VII Biennial, 1st International Gravura Exhibition, Portugal
1996-97 – Visiting lecturer in Ecole Regionale des Beaux-Arts, Caen, France
1998-2000 – Junior Fellowship of Government of India, Department of Culture
1998 – 70th Annual All India Art Exhibition of All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi
1998 – Eastern Indian Young Artist Exhibition by Orissa Lalit Kala Akademi
1996 – Annual Art Exhibition of the Society of India, Mumbai
1996 – Contemporary Art Exhibition, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata
1995 – Paschimbanga Rajya Charukala Pradarsani
1994-96 – National Culture Scholarship, Government of India
1993-94 – Awarded Research Grant of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1994-95 – All India Fine Arts Exhibition of Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata
1992,96 – All India Annual Art Exhibition of the Bombay.
