Jogen Chowdhury

Born in Faridpur of the undivided Bengal in 1939, Jogen Chowdhury completed his graduation in Fine Art from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata, where he received a gold medal in watercolour painting (1960). He pursued his further studies in France from 1965 to 1967 on a Government Scholarship at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Jogen skilfully blends traditional imagery with the contemporary style of painting. His early works display his inclination towards figuration, which carries through in recent works as well.
In his early years, Jogen Chowdhury was more into the expressionist style of figuration. His works featured grotesque images of men with large bellies and women with loose bodies. Being fascinated by the history and experiencing the traumatic events and effects of the partition, dislocation, and isolation – the terrors of famine, corruption, partition, and a constant element of darkness is always reflected through his distorted anatomy of figures. His works are seen as social and political comments as they protest or channel the agony of the human condition. Chowdhury juxtaposes various emotions and the known and the unknown elements as an expression of the collective consciousness.
Jogen has been a part of various group and solo exhibitions in Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, as well as Singapore, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Japan, Brazil, Hong Kong, and Beijing. Jogen’s works has been published and exhibited by Art Alive gallery, Delhi in ‘Limited Edition Portfolio’ (2005) and group exhibitions including ‘Fluid realities: A Group Show’ (2021), ‘The Mahatma Gandhi Statue’ (2014), and ‘Living Walls’ (2013).
He is also a participant in the International Prints Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, where he received an honourable mention (1995). His works were exhibited in various international exhibitions, including the ‘Triennale’ at Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C. (1982) and the II Havana Biennale, Cuba (1986). He was awarded at the II Havana Biennale (1986) and at the International Prints Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, in 1995. 
He was honoured with Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh Government (2001) and received numerous National Awards as well.
He lives and works in Santiniketan.