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Born and brought up in Mumbai, Walter D'Souza originally enroled in St. Xavier's to receive a BA in Economics. Dissatisfied with the curriculum, he decided to move to Baroda, where he joined the Faculty of Fine Arts. He speaks
favorably of his time in Baroda. The school drew students from all parts of India, providing him with insight into artistic trends around the country.Moreover, students were not divided by discipline, and D'Souza himself...
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Born and brought up in Mumbai, Walter D'Souza originally enroled in St. Xavier's to receive a BA in Economics. Dissatisfied with the curriculum, he decided to move to Baroda, where he joined the Faculty of Fine Arts. He speaks
favorably of his time in Baroda. The school drew students from all parts of India, providing him with insight into artistic trends around the country.Moreover, students were not divided by discipline, and D'Souza himself roomed with a biochemist for three of his years in Baroda.
D'Souza graduated in painting, completing a post-graduate course in print-making in 1983. He describes prints as his "take-off point from them I move on" He first became attracted to the medium on viewing metal engravings based on Durer's, "These were strong images for me," he remarks. When he embarked on an art career, he explored all forms: sculpture, painting, drawing, etc. He gained exposure to print-making through his brother, an avid pop art fan who would bring home posters, books, and album covers. Seeing Warhol's soup cans and Monroes, D'Souza became interested in the possibilities of print-making, an interest that his brother encouraged. In fact, screen printing was quite popular during the 1960s and 70s. Beyond these early exposures to art, D'Souza is hesitant to name artistic influences, preferring to name his debt to his environs.
"The people around me played an important role," he comments. He maintains that there was no art movement in the 1980s, and states that "If the larger world does not relate to your way of seeing, you don't get caught up with it." Baroda was very diverse. He is surrounded by architects, product designers, graphic designers and others. He prefers this diverse company to the sterile world of other artsts. Once artists get to together, they start bitching, he says. He prefers his monthly weekend time out, where his friends pool in to get food, and have a one or two man slide show. "This is as stimulating as art.
Shortly after graduating, D'Souza was asked to set up a print studio at the Kanoria Centre for the Arts at Ahmedabad, and he was occupied with this project from 1984-1995. The position required a great outlay of time to discharge administrative responsibilites; thus he left in 1995, in order to "get down to doing more art". He states firmly that he was not and and still is not a die-hard print maker. He does not work to the single purpose of producing an edition of prints, but is actively involved in all steps of the process. D'Souza describes his affection for the process of cutting out the woodblocks. Moreover, he is currently involved in paper making, and has begun to spend a great deal of time at the paper mill. "I am interested in paper pulp itself, and in the process of paper making." Other times, when framing his prints, he pays as much attention to the frame and the glass as he does the print himself, designing his own frames and etching or painting the glass to create a multidimensional art object.
"Nobody buys prints in India. It makes no sense to make large editions, even 10-15 is too much. I don't get caught up in making editions, and rarely reach seven, which is the minimum for a set to be termed an 'edition'. No two prints
are the same, though I might make more than fifty off the same block." He stresses, "The bottom line is to enjoy what you do. If you don't, something is wrong somewhere. I make it a point to enjoy whatever work I do, and I do not get caught up in technicalities."
He states that he finds large art movements difficult to handle for extended periods, for instance in Baroda, Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta. He finds it hard to believe it when one artist will stage three shows per year, creating ninety or more works. "People begin working for exhibitions, everything is geared towards exhibitions," he states, a focus created partly by the need to support the cost of living in a place such as Mumbai, where cost of living and space is quite expensive. In Ahmdebhad, he finds a refreshing absence of such pressures. His artist peers are engaged in what they are doing, and are not working toward an exhibition.
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Exhibitions
Selected Group Exhibitions
2011-12 'Back to School: Baroda 1979-89', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2011 'Back to School: Baroda 1979-89', Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 '1.2.3.4.5...In the Line of Fire', Lemongrasshopper, Ahmedabad
Participations
2010 'Contemporary Printmaking In India', presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai
Selected Group Exhibitions
2011-12 'Back to School: Baroda 1979-89', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai
2011 'Back to School: Baroda 1979-89', Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 '1.2.3.4.5...In the Line of Fire', Lemongrasshopper, Ahmedabad
Participations
2010 'Contemporary Printmaking In India', presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai
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PAST StoryLTD AUCTIONS
Showing
2
of
2
works
Lot 7
Details
Absolute Tuesdays
4 May 2021
Troy
Woodcut on paper
Winning bid
$150
Rs 10,800
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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Lot 22
Details
Times Art Fest Auction
25-26 January 2021
Between the Yarn ...
Woodcut on paper
Winning bid
$504
Rs 36,300
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)
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