Amitava Das (B. 1947)

Amitava Das (B. 1947) Amitava was born in Delhi in 1947, and graduated from the Delhi College of Art. As a student, he experimented with a few styles of painting, sketching reality as he saw it, and recording his perceptions through a series of selective drawings. In fact, all his canvases have a common, striking quality: the stress on background and the layers of colours laid on the surface through which the images emerge. "It is this paying attention to detail that helps me define the space in my paintings", he explains. Amitava further adds, "My work is based on human situations, where man is both the creator and the destroyer. It is an on-going process." In his work, the natural and artificial are cleverly fused to show the interdependence of the man-made and natural worlds. Rather than focus on the outward signs of a degenerate society, Amitava tries to show the inner struggles of men placed in difficult situations. Surprisingly, although the subject matter of his paintings is not cheerful, his canvases do not have an atmosphere of gloom. Instead, they have a gentle glow of hope pervading them. However, of late, the artist in him has been unable to ignore the increasing isolation and barbarism of a materialistic culture. As a result, his work is tinged with aggression and the myriad faces of cruelty. But, irrespective of his subject matter, Amitava continues to remain a keen observer of the world around, translating his thought processes into semi-abstract paintings.