Debanjan Roy an Indian artist living and working in Kolkata, India discusses his work and its influences

Debanjan Roy As told to Reem Fekri

Roy will be showing work at Art Dubai this year and is represented by Aicon Gallery, Stand A6

“In 2000 I completed my Masters in Fine Arts from Rabindra Bharti University, in Kolkata. I also received my Bachelors degree in the same university.

I believe that over the years institutions have recognized the importance of the liberal arts curriculum. The thriving economy of the past few years has boosted the funding at universities in India, the arts being an area of focus during expansion. One can only hope that with the change in the economic climate is does not affect the advances we’ve achieved in these institutions.

I utilize identifiable symbols and popular images from our history, reality and environment in my work. Gandhi is probably one of the most famous icons to come out of India. I place the Father of our Nation, on a laptop, on a cellular phone or listening to an iPod in an attempt to place him in the contemporary and comment on current popular culture in India. Though the world knows Gandhi as a pacifist, I sculpted him in red fiberglass- a violent color to illustrate his violent death. This sculpture symbolizes the violence that began and continues since his death.

Through my work I discuss three issues; India’s history through the icon of Gandhi, the present lifestyle of the Indian people, and the violence of both our past and present.

When I think about my work I always remember my past and present circumstances.

I mix India’s history with the present situation in terms of technology and culture. Because I believe that art always should represent or focus on the present time and situation, and as an artist it is my duty to focus on today’s culture through my work. But I don’t forget my past, either religious or cultural, because I believe that past is the route of the our future development.

India is a euphoric mix of all kinds of forces. This churn creates the strangest of combinations. In my "India Shining" series, of which this edition is a part, I try to find humor in these, often incrogous, mixes. Mahatma Gandhi, who I deeply respect, becomes a metaphor for an India of austerity that is fast disappearing. In my work he keeps running into, and adopting, the ways of the new, materialistic India. I try to convey the notion that while many of the new-fangled ways may have been alien to the old India and sit a little akwardly, that Gandhi's India is, nonetheless, open and receptive.

My finished product represents one hundred percent of my effort. The danger is my perfectionism. I complete a piece and there is always something more to express, impress upon the viewer. I find it difficult to finish working on my pieces, there is always the urge to something more. As an artist, I approach all works with equal enthusiasm. It is true that some works find greater resonance with the audience, but that preference lies in the eyes of the beholder.

We are constantly influenced by the cultural police and political regimes in the East. Western artists have achieved an autonomy we artists in the East are still working towards.

Western attention to Eastern artists has made dramatic leaps in the past decade. Eastern artists have much to express and in alternative ways. We have much to teach our Western peers and vice versa. The wave of globalization facilitated through the media has opened up a venue of international exchange that now started, can never be reversed. This dialogue across the globe is very positive.”

Photo Credits:

Debanjan Roy, INDIA SHINING VII, 2009 Painted fiberglass
48 x 36 x 108 in.
Image Courtesy of Artist and Aicon Gallery.

Debanjan Roy, INDIA SHINING I (GANDHI AND THE LAPTOP), 2007, Painted fiberglass
27 x 46 x 30 in.
(Edition of 5)
Image Courtesy of Artist and Aicon Gallery.”

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