Sanat Kar
BORN DIED EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS PARTICIPATIONS HONORS AND AWARD ABOUT THE ARTIST My works play with the deep and dark corners of the human mind. My canvases have a deep and melancholic quality. Most of Sanat Kar's works are surreal and have a curious dreamlike, mostly nightmarish, appearance. The figures are distorted and barely recognizable and leave an uncomfortable feeling behind them. The same treatment is given to objects. As a result, all of his paintings float on the edge of reality without ever getting there, symbolizing the mysteries of life to which there are no answers. Born in 1935 in Santiniketan, West Bengal, Kar obtained his diploma in painting from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta in 1955. The artist kept a low profile and let his work speak for him. His paintings are an eloquent testimony to his talent and artistic power. He used the tempera medium most frequently in his work and there are layers within layers that emerge upon closer inspection. One of his favorites is the image of the sea and the angry grayish green from which men and women emerge like newborns, still with placental fluid obscuring their faces. A large number of creatures are amphibians, demonstrating the pervasive influence of water on our lives and the fear it can generate. Birth and death, the beginning and end of the cycle of life held endless fascination for Kar, as did the grotesque and the macabre. He sometimes draws attention to faces that are images of decay and contours that look like masks. Occasionally in his work, there appear bulging eyes, bulbous and flattened noses, loose lips, and an expression that symbolizes the human being who is rapidly approaching the end and losing all interest and dignity in dealing. The colors that Kar used were in line with his somber mood. Mauves, dark greens, browns, magentas, and grays do nothing to alleviate the omnipresent darkness. He skillfully played with alternating levels of light and darkness to highlight the atmosphere of sadness. The texture of the material he worked with also contributes to the aura and his detailed calligraphy lends credibility to the whole.
1935 West Bengal
January 9, 2023
1950-55 Studied at Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta.
2006 The Lyrical Mudra, ArtsIndia, New York
2006 Akarprakar, Kolkata
2002-03 Retrospective Bronzes and Engravings, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta and Mumbai
1980 75 Nandan Gallery, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan
1981 Goa
1985 Sarla Art Gallery, Chennai
1988 79 Bengaluru
1991, 89, 85, 70 Bombay
1991, 84, 72, 69 New Delhi
2000, 1994, 92, 90, 67, 62 Calcutta
2011, 12 Reprise 2011, Aicon Gallery, New York
2010 The Living Insignia, Ensign Gallery, New Delhi
2010 Painters' Perception of Images and Symbols, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata
2010 The Drawing Laboratory, Aicon Gallery, New York
2009 The Root of Everything, Mementos Gallery, Bangalore
2000 Embassy of India, Berlin
1999 Bengal Foundation, Dhaka
1990 Bombay
1988 Art for Cry, Mumbai, Calcutta, New Delhi and Bangalore
1988 Festival of India, Takaoka Municipal Museum and Meguro Art Museum, Japan
1987 Eight contemporary artists, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta
1985 Indian Printmaking Today, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1983 India in print, Koninklijk Institute Vorde, Amsterdam
2010 National Print Portfolio, Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
2008 Moderns, Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with Embassy of India, Amman, Jordan
2003 Demonstrations, organized by Delhi Art Gallery, World Trade Centre, Mumbai, and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
1985 Fourth International Exhibition of Small Graphic Forms, Polan, Lodz
1984 British International Print Biennial, United Kingdom
1976 Tokyo Biennale, Tokyo
1997 Kala Vibhushan
1996 Shiromani Puraskar, Calcutta
1993 Lalit Kala Academy Award from West Bengal State, Kolkata
1978, Prize 84, 92, International Print Exhibition, Indian Fine Arts and Crafts Society AIFACS, New Delhi
1973 Award, Indian Fine Arts and Crafts Society AIFACS, New Delhi
