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Debraj Goswami
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Debraj Goswami was born in 1973 in Serampore, West Bengal. He completed his early education before he decided that the career of an artist was the one for him. Goswami completed his bachelor’s degree in Graphics at the Rabindra Bharati University in West Bengal and later moved to Baroda where he obtained his Master’s degree in the same from the Faculty of Fine Arts at M.S. University there. During his time at M.S. University, Goswami was...
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Debraj Goswami was born in 1973 in Serampore, West Bengal. He completed his early education before he decided that the career of an artist was the one for him. Goswami completed his bachelor’s degree in Graphics at the Rabindra Bharati University in West Bengal and later moved to Baroda where he obtained his Master’s degree in the same from the Faculty of Fine Arts at M.S. University there. During his time at M.S. University, Goswami was awarded the C.R. Dasgupta Memorial Gold Medal for obtaining the highest marks in his final exams. Goswami now lives and works in Baroda.
When Goswami began to paint while he was still in Kolkata, he used oils, and his works reflected the bold, assertive nature of his youth. Loud expressionistic areas of color and vivid abstractions characterized his early canvases. Goswami now prefers to work with acrylic on paper, because he believes the medium gives an artist the advantages of both oils and watercolors, allowing him to easily create and manipulate images on the surface. He also works with charcoal sometimes. Goswami’s oeuvre is mostly figurative and is created with thin, fine lines.
Goswami skillfully manages to get a very serious message across to his viewers through his work, albeit in a sometimes-humorous manner. Amongst the issues and concerns that he has dealt with are those relating to the social habits that the ‘new’ generation has cultivated by imitating those prevalent in the west, and also the ways in which they struggle to hold on to their roots and find a role model amongst them whom they can idealize. Explaining his allegorical idiom, the artist says, “I work in metaphors. So I am not putting any pressure on viewers to understand the intent behind my work. At first glance, they might see something that I never wanted to portray but will discover the true meaning by and by. For example, there is this painting where you see a cow atop a tree. Now this is a Bengali metaphor signifying the height of absurdity, so everyone may not understand. Once I have created what I wanted to, it is for my paintings to talk to the viewer. I cannot mediate their interaction.”
From the time he graduated in 1999, Debraj Goswami has participated in several shows. Amongst his solo endeavors are ‘Multiple Choice’ at Akar Prakar, Kolkata, in 2008; ‘Recycling Masterpieces and Etc.’ at Gallery Threshold, New Delhi, in 2006; ‘My Experiments with Half Truth’ at Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, in 2004; and ‘Don’t / Please Take it Otherwise’ at Gallery Art Resource Trust, Mumbai, in 2001. In 2008 he took part in a number of group shows including, `Faces` at Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai; `Baroda: A Tale of Two Cities` at Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda; `Of Myths And More` at Sans Tache, Mumbai; `Metropolis and the Self` at Art Alive, New Delhi; `Mapping Memories – 2, Painted Travelogues of Bali and Burma’ at Gallery Threshold, New Delhi; ‘Freedom: Sixty Years of Indian Independence’ at the Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata; ‘Ethos 4’ at Indigo Blue Art Gallery, Singapore; and ‘Gaze Within / Gaze Without’ at Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata.
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Born
May 29, 1973
Serampore, West Bengal
Education
1999 Master of Fine Arts in Print Making (Graphic Arts), Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
1997 Bachelor of Visual Art in Print Making (Graphic Arts), Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008 ‘Multiple Choice’, Akar Prakar,...
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008 ‘Multiple Choice’, Akar Prakar, Kolkata
2006 ‘Recycling Masterpieces and Etc.’, Gallery Threshold, New Del
2004 ‘My Experiments with Half Truth’, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
2001 ‘Don’t / Please Take it Otherwise’, Gallery Art Resource Trust, Mumbai
Selected Group Exhibitions
2011 'Enduring Legacy', Akar Prakar, Kolkata; Neumeister Gallery, Munich
2010 '10 x 10', Gallery Threshold, New Delhi
2010 'Who Has Seen Gandhi?', presented by Tangerine Art Space at Raj Bhavan; KynKyny Art Gallery and Tangerine Art Space, Bangalore
2010 'Irreverent Gene', Crimson- The Art Resource, Bangalore
2010 'Black is Beautiful', India Fine Art, Mumbai
2009 'Nature vs. Modernity', India Fine Art, Mumbai
2009 'The Urbane Records', The Viewing Room, Mumbai
2009 'Think Small', Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2009 'Towards a New Viewership/ Audience', presented by Art and Deal, New Delhi and Bakul Art Foundation, Bhubaneshwar at Art Konsult, New Delhi
2008 'Review', Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
2008 'Faces', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2008 'Baroda: A Tale of Two Cities', (Part II), Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara
2008 'Trends and Trivia', Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong
2008 'Of Myths And More', Sans Tache, Mumbai
2008 'Metropolis and the Self', Art Alive, New Delhi
2008 'Mapping Memories – 2, Painted Travelogues of Bali and Burma, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi
2008 'Freshly Squeezed: The Young Indian Contemporaries', Suchitrra Arts, Mumbai
2008 ‘Freedom: Sixty Years of Indian Independence’, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
2008 ‘Ethos 4’, Indigo Blue Art Gallery, Singapore
2008 ‘Gaze Within / Gaze Without’, Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata
2008 'Ananya', India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2007 ‘Meandering Membranes’, presented by Empire Art & The Shrine Gallery, New Delhi at The Taj Bengal, New Delhi
2007 ‘Reality Bytes’, Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
2007 ‘Emerging India’, Henry Moore Gallery, Royal College of Art, London
2007 ‘British Scholars Exhibition’, Lanxess Abs Gallery, Baroda
2007 ‘Does Size Matter II’, National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai
2007 ‘Mapping Baroda’, Gallery Art Room, New Delhi
2007 ‘Come September’, Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai
2007 ‘Instilling Life’, Hacienda Art Gallery, Mumbai
2007 'Team Unteamed- II', Art Konsult, New Delhi
2006 ‘New Paradigms III’, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi
2006 ‘2 x 2’, Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda
2006 ‘Nomenclature, Who’s Who’, Lanxess ABS Gallery, Baroda
2006 ‘Gen Next’, Akriti Art Gallery, Kolkata
2006 ‘Baroda’s Most Wanted’, Space Studio and Gallery, Baroda
2006 ‘Art of Young Bengal’, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata
2005 ‘Detour’, Project 88, Mumbai
2005 ‘New Wave in Bengal Art’, Gallery Akar Prakar, Kolkata
2005 ‘Nomenclature, a Re-Thinking’, Lanxess ABS Gallery, Baroda
2005 ‘100 Contemporary Indian Artists’, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai
2005 ‘Banyan City’, Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata
2005 ‘Generations To and Fro’, Kaleidoscope Art Gallery, Baroda
2005 ‘In Short’, Hacienda Art Gallery, Mumbai
2004 ‘A Tribute to Bhupen Khakhar ‘, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2004 ‘Alekhya’, Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda
2003 ‘Figurative and Non Figurative Narration’, National Centre of Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai
2003 Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2003 ‘The Uprising’, Gallery Son-et-Lumiere, Mumbai
2002 ‘Voices against Violence’, Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
2002 ‘Don’t Ask Me why’, Nazar Art Gallery, Baroda
2002 ‘The Banyan City’, Nazar Art Gallery, Baroda
2001 ‘The Cabinet Paintings’, Glasgow Print Studio Gallery, UK
2001 ‘The Christmas Print and Art Show’, Glasgow Print Studio Gallery, UK
2001 ‘Kitsch Kitsch Hota Hai’, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
2000 Prints done in CHHAPP Workshop, Nazar Art Gallery, Baroda
2000 '’Anonymously Yours', British Council and Gallery Lakeeren, Mumbai.
2000 'Beyond the Surface', Gallery Escape, New Delhi and Fine Art Company, Mumbai.
2000 Galerie 88, Kolkata
2000 ‘Group show of Paintings and Prints’, Galerie 88, Kolkata
2000 'Crystalball.com', presented by Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai
2000 ‘Prints 2000', Gallery Art Core, Baroda
1999 ‘Made in India', Exhibition of Prints, Gallery Gauche, Paris.
1999 'Let's See', Exhibition of Three print-makers, Gallery Lakeeren, Mumbai.
1999 'Let's See', Exhibition of Prints and Paintings, Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
1999 ‘Exhibition of three Print-makers’, Nazar Art Gallery, Baroda
1998 ‘The Rank-holders Exhibition’, Lalit Kala Kendra, Kolkata
Participations
2010 'Contemporary Printmaking In India', presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai
2010 'Summer Show 2010', Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
2008 'Harvest 2008', organized by Arushi Arts at The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi
2008 ‘Synchrome 4’, Akar Prakar Gallery, Kolkata and Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2008 ‘Harmony Show’, Nehru Centre, Mumbai
2008 ‘Miniature Format Show’, Sans Tache Art Gallery, Mumbai
2007 ‘Feb Group Show’, Lanxess Abs Gallery, Baroda
2007 Represented by Gallery Threshold for Art Singapore 2007, Suntec, Singapore
2006 ‘Feb Group Show’, Lanxess Abs Gallery, Baroda
2006 ‘The Indian Art Show’, Arushi Arts, Nehru Centre, London
2006 ‘Harvest’, Arushi Arts, New Delhi
2004 6th Bharat Bhavan International Biennale of Print Art, Bhopal
2003 4th Egyptian Print Triennial, Egypt
2000 'The Miniature Format Show', Sans Tache Art Gallery, Mumbai.
2000 ‘The Harmony Show', Nehru Centre, Mumbai.
1998 41st National Exhibition of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.
1998 70th All India Exhibition, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi.
1995 1st Eastern Prints Biennial, Bhubaneswar.
1995 Inter State Exchange of Art Exhibition, Tamil Nadu Lalit Kala Academy, Chennai
Honours and Awards
2007 Emerging Indian Masters at Royal College of Art London organized by SA Fine Arts and Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2001-02 Recieved Charles Wallace Award to Visit and Work in UK
1999 Awarded C.R. Dasgupta Memorial Gold medal for obtaining highest number of marks in MA (Print Making), Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
2007 Emerging Indian Masters at Royal College of Art London organized by SA Fine Arts and Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi
2001-02 Recieved Charles Wallace Award to Visit and Work in UK
1999 Awarded C.R. Dasgupta Memorial Gold medal for obtaining highest number of marks in MA (Print Making), Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
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How would you describe your artistic journey over the last couple of years?
When I began painting during my student days in Calcutta I rejected the formal way of painting. I felt that in order to establish my own language, I would have to listen to myself regardless of what anyone else felt. Having a lot to say I initially used a central image, which has several supporting ones. This led to the...
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Read More
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How would you describe your artistic journey over the last couple of years?
When I began painting during my student days in Calcutta I rejected the formal way of painting. I felt that in order to establish my own language, I would have to listen to myself regardless of what anyone else felt. Having a lot to say I initially used a central image, which has several supporting ones. This led to the juxtaposition of several images. I have built a language which now, is no longer so challenging. So I shifted to paper to take a challenge, to solve technical blocks, which I have not had to cross while working on canvas. Experimentation always provides one with a challenge. But with me, what begins as a play eventually becomes controlled. The imagery of my visuals has evolved, the images appear less complicated but are conceptually much more complex that before. Regarding the image, the thought process is always working.
The titles of your work tell a story in themselves. Do you intentional direct your viewer’s train of thought?
As an artist it is not necessary to explain my work entirely. Yet the titles of my works provide enough clues for the viewer to decode them.
Has your work always been entirely focused on social and political issues?
As a student I was a Marxist, though now many of my political beliefs no longer stand true leaving me often confused. Politically my stance has not changed. I have always been concerned with what is happening in our society. Earlier I saw everything in black and white but now since the last 5-6 years I have started looking at the lesser obvious grey areas. And that has given rise to visuals created by mixing images. Everyone and everything has shades of grey. I paint because I have questions regarding these issues. This is what preoccupies me, yet I am not out to be a politician or social activist.
Your works represent the aspirations of a present generation.
Of course my works are a documentation of my time but one can call it a personal view. In my recent works my sentiments come through my work indirectly and not as in a direct image. My paintings reflect the questions that are formed in my encounter with the world around me in a day-to-day life. My doubts and concerns are translated into numerous questions. The urgency to seek out answers actually leads to more images.
So you feel that the painted image/visual is stronger than words?
Of course it is. Words have a language barrier but visuals are a means of direct communication. I also believe visuals can stay in the peoples mind much longer than words.
Does art history contribute to your work?
It is absolutely imperative to be aware of art and its history to understand the meaning of visual language of that time as well as that of the present. Nothing new or significant can be done in the contemporary times without its knowledge. There are many incidents where I use reference of works done by famous artists. I keep the image intact but change the context.
So, what does the future hold?
Sculpture, probably.
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