About Debnath Basu

Debnath Basu’s art and his sardonic take on life is deeply rooted in his upbringing in Howrah. Debnath responded to its congested neighbourhood, the unique character of one of the oldest industrial townships adjacent to Kolkata, its long colonial heritage and daily hardships unfolding its own nonconforming dramas and theatrics. His association as an artist and a resident of the place is physical and social having a great impact on his political and intellectual engagement with the locale vis-à-vis his works in nuanced and varied ways. These experiences along with his exposure to a vast gamut of literature which comprised fictions, non-fictions, official & legal documents, popular texts made him look at the visual potentialities with an off-centre perspective including sarcasm and mockery as essential tools of negotiation. Essentially a printmaker, with a long experience in printmaking practice Debnath makes use of etched lines, grooves, graphite dust to smear and printing ink to create his artworks steeped in empirical, inter-textual and topical references while reconstructing a world that is seemingly slightly misfit and beyond the normative.

Debnath Basu (b. 1961) studied Printmaking Art at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. He is a recipient of Kanoria Centre For Arts Fellowship, Ahmedabad; Junior Fellowship, Govt. of India and Fine Arts Fellowship from Vikram Sarabhai Foundation, New Delhi. He has had 2 solo shows in Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai and Aicon Gallery, U.S.A. till date and has been part of many curated group shows in India and abroad. He did few limited-edition Artists’ Books and Folios in his credit.

Among them, the fictitious book, Titled: Public Transport Defence Devices was a collaborative project with artist Anandajit Ray and produced by Printmaker’s Studio, Baroda.
Debnath teaches Fine arts in the Department of Home Science, Calcutta University. He lives and works in Howrah, West Bengal.