Avijit Roy

Avijit Roy

Born 
1962 –WestBengal 

Education 

·  1988-90 Post Diploma in Graphics (Printmaking), Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

·  1988 Certificate Course in Fresco Painting, Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan.

·  1988 Associate Post Graduate Student in Wimbledon School Of Art, London

·  1981-86 V. A. F. A. Diploma (Drawing and Printmaking), Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

·  2006 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  2001 Shridharnni Art Gallery, New Delhi

·  1997 Atelier 2221, New Delhi

·  1996 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  1991 LTG Art Gallery, New Delhi.

·  1990 Bajaj Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  1987 Air India Art Gallery, Kolkata
Selected Group Exhibitions

·  2003 ‘Graphics Today & Tomorrow’, India Habiart Gallery, New Delhi and Siddharth Art Gallery, Kathmandu

·  2004 Manhattan Print Studio, Manhattan, New York

·  2002 ‘The Joy Of life’, Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

·  2000-01 ‘Graphic Expressions-Print Show 2000’, organized by Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai at Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi

·  1998 Brita Art Gallery, Germany

·  1998 Student Gallery, London

·  1998 William Mora Gallery, Melbourne

·  1998 Arks Gallery, London

·  1997 Antahkoran Art Gallery, New Delhi

·  1996 British Council, New Delhi

·  1996 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  1995 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  1995 Urusvati Art Gallery

·  1995 Prithvi Gallery, Mumbai

·  1994,95 Kanoria Center For Art, Ahmedabad

·  1994 Art Heritage, New Delhi

·  1994 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  1992 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  1991 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  1989 Bajaj Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  1987 Lalit Kala Academy, Kolkata

·  1985-87 Calcutta Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata
Joint Exhibitions

·  1995 Shridharni Art Gallery, New Delhi

·  1992,94 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
Participations

·  2010 'Contemporary Printmaking In India', presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

·  2010 'National Printmaking Portfolio', Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad

·  1997-98 Annual Exhibition, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi

·  1996 Annual Exhibition, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi

·  1992 Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

·  1991 99th Annual Art Exhibition, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore

·  1991 Bombay Arts Society, Mumbai

·  1990 Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

Honours and Awards

·  2004-06 Senior Fellowship, Ministry of HRD, Department of Culture, Government of India

·  1998 Indian Deutschland Cultural Exchange Programme in Germany

·  1997-98 Charles Wallace Indian Trust Fellowship to Study in U.K

·  1997-98 Annual Exhibition, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi

·  1996 Annual Exhibition, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi

·  1996-98 Lalit Kala Academy Research Grant from Government of India at Garhi Studio, New Delhi.

·  1994-96 Junior Fellow, Department of Culture

·  1992 Bombay Art Society Award, Mumbai

·  1992 All India Art Exhibition, Rajasthan Lalitkala Academy

·  1992 Bendre Hussain Scholarship Award.

·  1991 99th Annual Art Exhibition, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore

·  1991 99th Annual Art Exhibition, Bombay Arts Society, Mumbai

·  1990 Biennale Bharat Bhavan Award.

·  1990, 91 Scholarship to Young Workers in different Cultural Fields, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Culture, Government of India.

·  1990-92 Scholarship To Young Workers in Different Cultural fields, Government of India

·  1986 All India Exhibition of Calcutta, Kolkata

·  1981-85 Indian College Arts Award

 

Artist Avijit Roy diversified portfolio of work comprises beast-based drawings and the paper on canvases couched cases of knives or rows of them framed or scrolled. The artist’s initial works included many images of the mammoth black bull in its many manifestations. He experimented with Chine Colle, a simple technique in which subtle color and the textural contrast between rice paper and the base paper are highlighted, and this technique is increasingly seen in his rendering of the Buddha.

Born in 1962 in West Bengal, Avijit Roy did his V.A.F.A. from Rabindrabharati University in West Bengal. He further did a post Diploma in Graphic Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University in Baroda. 
 

Avijit Roy’s ‘bull’ indeed charges with immense energy expressed through free strokes in black of white. Wounds though an inherent element of the bullfighting, the bulls appear to rise above its misfortune without ado. In other words, the elan of the bull is projected by the artist wherein there’s a message for the viewer. So these particular offerings affect us, quite as the artist's other works do. It complements the artist's sculptures. This medium, in his hands, carries the same conviction. 

Avijit Roy is purposive, not a dilettante artist. By design the above noted works are not dainty, but fibrous. In fact, the artist's diversified portfolio of work comprises not only the beast-based drawings but also the redoubtable athletic sculptures at moment almost levitating, and the paper on canvases couched cases of knives or rows of them framed or scrolled. The talented artist is not averse to experimentation and has combined with a fashion designer to do his bull series for their menswear. 

His 'knife' series comprises the works on paper and canvas. If one closely looks at the works, these are not sophisticated sitting room ornamentation but nor are they sharp implements! Here the artist is seen turning swords back into ploughshares. The very softness, as the mellow coloration of each of these knives is an avowal: to shed the hardness of the heart. 

In a sense the knives are equally hard as bull and muscled man, but this time by virtue of their empathy and communion with their fellows. So orchestral is their sound of harmony. The visual pleasure in these is enhanced by their stance of femininity. The knives are defenseless, outwardly, but yet still really making a firm, silent evocation for peace. 

There is also the series on the Buddha, at moments on a fabric simulated base that the artist has worked on is certainly ornamental, rich in textural effects. But such delight is in order, not impure, and it is felt not a put on act.