J A Y A S R I B U R M A NA M Y T H I C A L U N I V E R S E

A MYTHICAL UNIVERSE

Partha Mitter

Ina Puri

Ashok Vajpeyi

Pritish Nandy

a mythicalUNIVERSE

JAYASRI BURMAN

Sketch V, Pen & Ink on Paper, 7” x 7”, 2002

Previous pageDetail from Ghore-Baire

I have been an avid admirer of Jayasri’s works, ever since the

fi rst time I spotted them in a group show in the mid 80s, and it

gives me great pleasure to see that a book detailing her artistic

journey is getting published. I have, for the past many years,

followed her rise in the creative world and it gladdens me to see

her achievements. During the course of events I was brought

even closer to her artistic endeavours when she and her husband

Paresh Maity utilised the Sanskriti Kendra studios to execute

some of their larger works. Th at aff orded me the opportunity to

view the process through which she conceptualized her works, and

I must confess that I have been deeply moved by the dedication,

consistency and determination with which she approaches them.

My role in the fi eld of arts has only been that of a catalyst, a

facilitator, for I am no theoretician of the arts. Consequently when

I talk about Jayasri’s works, I can only describe the instinctual

connection which I feel towards them. In them I see a refl ection of

the love and playfulness with which she portrays her subjects. She

approaches her gods and goddesses not as deities, but as sakhis,

and her women seem like an incarnation of the ashthanayikas.

Th erefore to me, her works signify all the three yugas of the

past, present and future. And it is this refl ection of history, myth

and ancient texts – an element which transcends time and easy

classifi cation, which appeals to me in a very immediate and

emphatic manner. I can see that Jayasri’s works have achieved

much acclaim, all of which is justly due to her. However, having

known her personally for the past so many years I am constantly

amazed at how unchanged she is with all the adulation. She

continues to be a warm, witty and a beautiful person, much to

my delight. I see in Jayasri’s works a sense of integrity, passion and

an awareness which seeks to evoke the same in the viewer, and as

a follower of the arts I value that deeply.

O. P. Jain

President, Sanskriti Foundation

FOREWORD

Th e Art of Jayasri Burman – Partha Mitter 13

Fables, Refl ections and History – Ina Puri 33

A Visual Kathasarit – Ashok Vajpeyi 87

A Teller of Tales, a Weaver of Magic – Pritish Nandy 117

Chronology 227

Creative Evolution 235

CONTENTS

THE ART OF JAYASRI BURMAN

15

Jayasri Burman has chosen a naïve decorative mode to create

her dense and compelling mythological narratives. European

Renaissance introduced a qualitative distinction between the

‘low’ decorative arts and the ‘high’ arts of naturalist painting and

sculpture. Such distinctions were meaningless in pre-colonial

India and were established in our country only in the colonial era.

Pioneering nationalist painters, led by Abanindranath Tagore,

disavowed naturalist academic art that was disseminated by

colonial art schools. Th ey reiterated the fl at lines and colours of

Indian painting, dismissed by the British Raj as mere decorative

art. Jayasri Burman’s mannerist style is a worthy successor to

Abanindranath, as mediated through the paintings of Nandalal

Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee, Ram Kinkar Baij and other

teachers at the Kala Bhavan in Santiniketan. Her paintings have

affi nities with printmaking, which is a refl ection of her experience

with that medium. Jayasri had augmented her experience of

Santiniketan with a period at the Visual College of Art in Kolkata,

followed by training with a graphic artist in Paris and fi nally with

the renowned printmaker Krishna Reddy.

THE ART OF JAYASRI BURMAN

– Partha Mitter

UNTITLED-5, Watercolour on Board, 48” x 48”, 2006

16

UNTITLED-4, Watercolour on Board, 20” x 20”, 2006

17

Modernism undermined the separation of decorative and fi ne

art by rejecting Renaissance naturalism and by creating the new

art of abstraction. While abstract art extolled the purity of line

and colour, at the same time it rejected the order, symmetry

and balance of decorative design. As a contemporary painter

who is well aware of the achievements of modernism, Jayasri

steers a sophisticated course through the treacherous waters of

representation, decoration and abstraction. She has developed

an eff ective use of fl at watercolours, with strong and clear lines

and almost no shades, while her backgrounds create a tapestry

of dense patterns culled from a whole range of decorative

designs. If the fi rst impression is of a traditional folk art format,

on a closer examination we notice a strict overall control of the

BAKYOLAAP, Watercolour, Pen & Ink on Board, 10.5” x 9.5”, 2008

18

SHANTA, Pen & Pencil on Paper, 11” x 11.5”, 2007

Photograph by Nemai Ghosh

19

formal structure of composition that would please contemporary

modernists.

Jayasri Burman’s choice of frontal fi gures with staring eyes in the

manner of hieratic art, her crowding of surfaces with fi gures and

the intricate and exquisite details of her fabric and background,

and above all, the constant reference to traditional Hindu

iconography, invite us to enter the world of our village patuas as

well as traditional paintings from other parts of India such as

Kerala. Her costumes, trappings and other details are inspired by

traditional art such as the turban, the crown (mukuta), or the lotus

associated with our gods and goddesses, as are her female fi gures

who are either bare-breasted or wear the short blouse of ancient

India (choli) that hark back to the Golden Age of the Guptas.

Not only does she invoke Durga, Shiva, Sarasvati and other

deities, she reproduces the popular Mahishasuramardini image

of the Bengali potters well known from the autumnal Durga Puja

festival. Other details include mythical fl ying creatures such as

the kinnari or the naga, the many-hooded serpent popular since

DURGA, Pen & Ink on Board, 15.5” x 15.5”, 2008

untitledWatercolour,Pen & ink on Board, 15” x 18”, 2007

158

159

188

Dompotti, pen & ink on Board, 15.5” x 15.5”, 2008

189

Ruposhi, Watercolour, pen & ink on Board, 24” x 24”, 2009