Jatin Das at the Chelsea Arts Club

The garden at the Chelsea Arts Club was very Delhi this evening (apart from the temperature). Indian musicians on sitar and tabla created a soothing ambience as well over a hundred people tucked into the buffet prepared by Jatin Das, the Orissa-born painter whose drawings currently line the interior walls of the large bar in the club premises in Old Church Street. He has been painting for over 50 years and has held well over 50 one-man exhibitions in various parts of the world. His work is instantly recognisable, dynamic; at times, a sort of South Asian counterpoint to the late Feliks Topolski, though without the topical references or recognisable portraiture. As Jatin Das comments in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, ‘I draw, paint and etch human figures, devoid of embellishment. I sculpt and chisel my paintings. I have also welded metal sculptural installations and painted murals. My works are not narrative, not factual; they have no reference whatsoever and are not bound by time or place.’ His figures are almost all naked, yet rarely erotic; even when portrayed as couples, they are isolated in their inner thoughts and insecurities, their bodies distorted or contorted, yet ineffably human.

Link: http://jatindas.com and www.chelseaartsclub.com