AVIJIT DUTTA (b.1974)

born in 1974, he received his Bachelor of Visual Art in Painting from the Rabindra Bharati University of Calcutta, in 2001. He lives and works in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

The dynamic artist Avijit has journeyed through various phases in time and his search for the ultimate truth is never ending. In his quest for human expressions, Avijit has drawn up his personal feelings into his realistic, figurative work. His style is a tempera technique on canvas with various experimental textures, and he manages to capture the various facets of humanity with ease and lyricism, using his own unique technique and compositions with a limited palette that give his canvases an almost monochromatic effect The works, he says, are metaphorical, minimal and almost meditative water colors. Avijit typically works on one theme at a time and his works are a reflection of his inquisitive mind. His search for truth continues and so does his journey of retrospection and realization leading to his expression on canvas. The artist’s works exemplify his experience of reliving moments, embracing them and celebrating them as a part of a bigger process, as a fragment of the continuously evolving and mutating existence. Avijit Dutta’s work evolves from personal experiences and contemplations; it imbibes and portrays different conflicts of the human minds more than any political over view or statement.

He has been exhibiting at various national and international galleries, and art events from the year 1996. He received the best work in watercolour 1995-1996, Academy of Fine Arts (Visual Arts). Award and Certificates of Merit, in 1996-1997 (Rabindra Bharati University). He has also been invited to various international art projects and workshops in India and across the world.

In 2023 he had a solo show “Masquerade – An endless drama” at the Indian art fair. In 2018 he was invited to participate “AKhanda Eka Rasa-the undivided royal essence” at Bihar Museum, Patna, India. In the same year, he had a solo show “Ensoul” at the Indian art fair. In 2017 he was invited to participate in Souls of Wide Walls ( Group Exhibition) at Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad and by ICA and Art 18|21 (Norwich) gallery ” My Private Museum “ at the India art fair, New Delhi. In 2016 he had a solo show, ‘Life is a Deck of Cards’ at the Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad and was invited by ICA and Art 18|21 (Norwich) gallery to exhibit his solo show at the India art fair. In 2015 he was invited to participate in ‘INBOX’ a contemporary sculpture exhibition held at Srishti Art Gallery, Hyderabad, the same year he was also invited by Shaanxi Art Museum to participate in ‘SILK ROAD’ an exhibition in Xian (China). He curated the art exhibitions in 2014, entitled ‘Lost in Transition’ (the forgotten art of letter writing) at The Harrington Street Arts Centre (Kolkata) and a show on watercolour with artists from India and China, titled ‘Tradition & Transition’ at Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad. In 2013, Shun Art Gallery (Shanghai) invited him to The International Artist Group Exhibition: Metamorphosis. In 2012 he participated in Art Basel Miami River Art Fair, in Miami, USA. He was a Jury member for the International Biennale held in Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal in 2011. Avijit was invited to conduct workshops, to demonstrate the use of watercolour on canvas in New Zealand and Greece. In the same year, he was invited to participate in a creative workshop to re-design the auto-rickshaw in New Delhi. He conducted a workshop based on the Indian ‘Guru-Shishya’ tradition at Angkorwat, Cambodia in 2010, resulting in a travelling exhibition in India.