Shipra Bhattacharya

Born in 1954, Shipra Bhattacharya's work has addressed women's issues in a confrontational yet subtle way. While the female figure forms a central part of her work, the artist draws more on the inner consciousness of these women, using bold but soft colors and gentle brushstrokes. There is a mystery in each of her female protagonists about the need for something more than meets the eye. In her recent works, the female body becomes a site or vehicle that supports the viewer but is tattooed with icons and images that express both plenitude and desire. 

Bhattacharya's work borders on the sensual. It is far from a portrait and yet there is an endearingly real character in each of her women. The artist easily combines bright, bold colors and soft, curved strokes, turning each of her paintings into a fascinating paradox. 

Educated at the College of Arts and Crafts in Calcutta and the College of Visual Arts in the same city, Shipra Bhattacharya has exhibited her work in solo exhibitions since 1981, most recently at EVE organized by the Sanskriti Gallery at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. , in 2006. The artist's works have been included in numerous group exhibitions that have traveled around the world, most recently Think Small at Art Alive, New Delhi, in 2009, Miles Apart at Point of View, Mumbai, in 2009, Manthan presented by Nitanjali Art Gallery at Galerie Romain Rolland, New Delhi, in 2009, and An Indian Summer presented by Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi, at the Cork St. London Gallery, in 2007.

BORN

1954 Calcutta West Bengal

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1977-80 College of Visual Arts, Calcutta, under Shuvaprasanna

1975 Government College of Arts and Crafts, University of Calcutta

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2006 Sumukha Gallery, Bengaluru

2006 Sanskriti Gallery, Kolkata

2006 India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

2005 Sanskriti Gallery, Dubai

2002 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2010 Black is Beautiful, Indian Fine Arts, Mumbai

2009 Sacred and Secular, Fine Arts of India, Mumbai

2009 Think Small, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2009 Miles Apart, Point of View, Mumbai

2009 Manthan, presented by Nitanjal Art Gallery at Galerie Romain Rolland, New Delhi

2007 An Indian Summer, presented by Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi at The Gallery in Cork St. London

2006 Art Resource Trust Gallery, Singapore

2006 Sanskriti Gallery, Kolkata

2006 Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2006 Akar Prakar, Kolkata

2006 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

2005 Reflections Art Gallery, Hong Kong

2005 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

2005 India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

2005 Arushi Arts, New Delhi

2005 Sanskriti Gallery, Kolkata

2005 Art N Soul, Mumbai

2005 Art World, Chennai

2005 Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi

2005 Aryan Art Gallery, New Delhi

2004 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata

2004 Gandhara Art Gallery, Kolkata

2003 Intex Gallery, Dubai

2003 Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

2003 Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi

2003 Surya Gallery, Hyderabad

2002 Sarala Art Gallery, Singapore

2002 Art Today, New Delhi

2002 Galleria Gallery, New Delhi

2002 Gallery 88, Calcutta

2001 Art with heart, organized by Cry in Dubai

1997 Expressions of the East in Bengal, Apparao Gallery, Singapore

1994 The Indian Context, Lei Arthur Studio, New York

1993 Three contemporary artists from India, Kufa Gallery, London

1992 To Find the Other, Stoffwachasel, Germany

1991 Greenwich Citizens Gallery, London

1991 Wolsey Gallery, London

1990 Calcutta three hundred years, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta

SELECTED JOINT EXHIBITIONS

2009 With Shuvaprasanna at DLF Galleria, New Delhi

PARTICIPATIONS

2012 Synergy, 12th Anniversary Exhibition, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

Summer Exhibition 2010, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2006 Harmony Show, Nehru Centre, Mumbai