DEVAJYOTI RAY (B. 1974)

From the artist's studio

Devajyoti Ray as an artist is known for his style of Pseudorealism: a style that attempts not to present reality in its mundane form, but to present the magic in the mundane. In Ray's pseudorealist style, reality emerges through abstraction rather than direct depiction. What makes his art distinct is how unconventional colours, simple geometric shapes, and seemingly random marks come together to form a clear, coherent image achieving an effect that reads as real without being literal representation. The genre has since been embraced as an original Indian art movement, generating sustained critical attention and several books devoted to its study.

Amrita Sher-Gil was born in colonial India, at a time when indigenous art had yet to find its foothold on the global stage. She believed that the fault lay in how Indian artists of her era approached the canvas. She resolved to bridge this gap by applying Western technical mastery to portray the authentic soul of India. What she failed to grasp in her youthful enthusiasm, however, was that this gulf could not easily be bridged in an India shackled by feudalism, fractured by caste, and brutalized daily by colonial power.

She died very young, making us wonder, if a longer life would have brought her to terms with this reality. But in this very short time of only 28 years, she lived a very eventful life, with absolute intellectual honesty, great passion, and most importantly immense bravado. It is this raw, unfiltered existence, paired with her early death, that has transformed her today into an everlasting enigma and an enduring myth and has inspired the artist Ray as well.

In this painting Ray does not attempt to tell the story of Amrita Sher-Gil nor does he try to capture an accurate portraiture of her. Ray captures more of the magic and the aura that surrounds the name: Amrita Sher-Gil. She appears in a saree, against a background of symbolic Europe and her almost childlike personality painted in Manga style. Hence the title: Manga + Amrita = Mangamitra.

The painting forms a part of Ray’s portrait series on prominent artists of the world.

Exhibited & Published: Pseudorealism & The Evolution of Art, Dwija Art Gallery, October 2024